Bubblegum Crisis: A Farewell to Arms part 1
by Purple Knight Saber
Summary: It is the year 2055. 17-year-old Yumeko Asagiri is now living in Sacramento in an attempt to hide from Genom for a while. Recent events, however, are still fresh in her mind, but perhaps her new friend can help her out.
1. Sacramento

Please note: this is the follow-up to my fic "BGC The Next Generation." If you haven't read it yet, GO BACK AND READ IT FIRST.

I hadn't intended to write a sequel to Next Gen, but my mind wouldn't let me stop writing. So here is the sequel, "A Farewell to Arms." Part 1 here was written between January and May of 2002.

* * *

"Attention all passengers, we will be landing at San Francisco International Airport in ten minutes. Please turn off all electrical devices and remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened until we touch down. We hope you have enjoyed your flight, and thank you for choosing Japan Airlines."

The brown-haired girl sitting near the middle of the plane yawned and turned off her CD player, putting it away in her bag. She stretched her arms and legs, then took a look out the window. In the distance, San Francisco Bay could be seen, glittering under the moonlight. The Golden Gate Bridge stretched across it, full of passing cars even at this late hour. Thousands of lights filled the area around the bay, coloring it an array of reds, whites, and oranges.

The girl didn't look impressed. It was nothing compared to what her hometown was like. She yawned and leaned back in her seat as the "Seat Belts Fastened" sign above her turned on, signaling the plane was about to land.

Sunny California. This was where 17-year-old Yumeko Asagiri was going to start her new life as a normal teenager.

* * *

"Bubblegum Crisis – A Farewell to Arms"

Written by Amanda Stair

* * *

"We have arrived at San Francisco International Airport," the flight attendant said over the intercom. "The time is 3:48 AM, and it is 44 degrees outside. We hope you have enjoyed your flight."

_I think she said that a few minutes ago,_ I thought as I unfastened my seat belt and stood up, picking up my bag. _I've only heard that about ten billion times in my life!_ Even after all the years of listening to that, I could never understand why they had to declare the temperature outside. I could understand the time – we'd just crossed several time zones, after all – but the temperature? Oh well I guess it was just to prepare people in case it was colder outside than it looked.

I reached above my seat and opened the storage compartment, taking out my jacket and baseball cap. I put on the jacket, tied back my hair, and put on the cap, picking up my bag at the same time. Once the initial crush of people was past me, I stepped into the aisle and made my way to the front of the plane, grimacing whenever I'd get crushed in the small mob; a few of my recent wounds hadn't quite healed yet, especially the ones I'd sustained just four days earlier during the battle at Genom Tower.

"Thank you," the flight attendant said as I stepped off the plane. I nodded to her in response and walked past, and suddenly, a wall of noise hit me. People bustling around to this gate or that, running to make sure they didn't miss their flight, combined with the noise of people announcing stuff on the intercom about when flights would be leaving every airport was like this, I guess. I looked up at the gate number I was at: Gate 375. _Ok, Nene told me to stay here so I could meet that lady,_ I thought as I searched for a seat to sit myself down in. Once I found a free seat, I sat down and scanned the crowds passing by. Nene had said the lady coming to pick me up would be a redhead, like her, and had blue eyes. Like that would help.

A few minutes later, I could see a petite lady running towards the gate I was at. I wondered if it was her; she did have red hair and blue eyes, but I stayed put, just in case.

"You must be Rocío!" she exclaimed as she jogged up to me. She leaned forward and gave me a hug. "It's so nice to meet you!"

_God, I wish Nene had picked a better name for me!,_ I thought. This definitely was the woman Nene was talking about; she and this lady almost could've been twins, except this lady's hair was more red than pink. I stood up and said, "Yeah, I'm Rocío. How do you do?" I bowed, and she returned the bow.

"You must be tired from your flight," she said.

"Nah, it was alright. I've had better, but I've had way worse, too."

"Did Nene tell you my name?"

"Um, yeah. Wasn't it, uh, Iris or something?" She had told me some fancy I-name, but I couldn't remember it for the life of me.

She laughed. "Irodia. I'm Irodia."

I grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, that's the name!"

"I'm Nene's cousin. Did she tell you that?"

"I THOUGHT you two looked a bit alike!" I joked, laughing. "No, I think she skipped that little detail."

"Well, how about we get away from this crush of humanity?" she asked, smiling gently. "All we have to do is get your luggage and we'll be on our way!"

"Ok!"

Irodia led me away from the gate, and after a short ride on the airport subway, we reached the baggage claim and grabbed my suitcases, five in all. Good thing most of them were roller suitcases; we would've been quite a sight, us two trying to lug around five suitcases. After another short ride on the subway, we dragged my stuff out into the parking garage and to Irodia's car. Once we managed to get my things into the car, we climbed in and were on our way.

"So, has Nene told you anything about me?" Irodia asked as we reached the highway.

"No," I replied, taking off my cap.

"Well, my family used to live in Japan, and Nene and I would hang out together all the time, playing with dolls and stuff. Then after the '25 quake, my family decided to move to a less earthquake-prone area, while Nene's decided to stay."

"So you came to California, of all places?" She laughed.

"That's what I thought, too! I mean, California and Japan are two of the world's most earthquake-prone places! As if moving from one to another is really gonna make a difference!"

I laughed; yes, this was definitely Nene's cousin. They had much the same attitudes, and they both even had red hair, even if they were different shades.

"Well, now that there's nobody around," Irodia said, "you can tell me more about yourself." And suddenly, she switched from English to Japanese. "How have you been holding up through all this, Yumeko?"

"Huh?" She knew my real name?

"It's ok," she assured me, noting the look on my face. "Nene told me everything. She said she figured it would be easier for you this way if somebody knew."

"So so you know EVERY little thing?"

"She told me you've been through a lot, and you needed to get away for a little while to recover emotionally."

I heaved a sigh. _Good, she probably doesn't know I'm a Knight Saber then,_ I thought, my heart slowing down, just a few seconds before having been beating like crazy. "So what has she told you?" I asked.

"She said you were shot through the leg, and that you're still recovering from that. She also mentioned you were stabbed recently and a close friend of yours was murdered." Irodia looked remorseful. "I'm sorry."

"Michiko..." I sighed. "It's only been two weeks, but it seems like it's been so much longer than that." My hand instinctively reached for the necklace chain around my neck.

"Was that her necklace?"

"Yeah..."

"I wish I could say I can relate, but I can't." She sighed. "I'll do whatever I can to help you through this, though. I want you to know that you can stay at my house as long as you need to, ok? You're always welcome at my house."

I smiled weakly. "Thanks, Irodia..."

She brightened. "Oh, and Nene also mentioned you're aiming for the Olympics next summer! I can help you out with that!"

"You can?" I raised an eyebrow; she didn't seem like the athletic type.

"I know a guy at the local gym that's a black belt in tai chi and karate and all that stuff! He can help you get your leg back in shape, and tone all your muscles so you can do those flips easier! I could set up an appointment if you want!"

"You seem more excited about this than I am." I chuckled. "But I can't do the full-blown stuff right away. I'm still kinda beat up."

"Well, tai chi helps to stretch the muscles. It won't be that hard on you while you're trying to recover." She thought for a moment. "Nene mentioned something else too, about blackouts or something?"

I sighed. "Yeah. Sometimes someone'll do something, or something'll happen, that'll make me remember something from when the convention center exploded, and I black out. And when I come out of it, I find out I nearly killed someone."

"I know a good therapist that can—"

"No!" I said emphatically, shaking my head vigorously. "I can't stand doctors! I know you're trying to help me, but but I don't want to see no shrink about my panic attacks! They don't happen as often as they used to, anyway."

"Ok, ok. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

"How far away IS your house, anyway?" I asked. "We've been on the highway for a while."

"It's in Sacramento. There's no international airport there, so I had to drive all the way out here to pick you up. It'll be about an hour's drive or so, so you can go ahead and fall asleep in here if you want," she suggested.

"Nah, I'll be ok. Can you turn on the radio?"

"Sure. What station?"

"Whatever one that plays rock," I said, grinning. "Anything but rap or country!"

Irodia laughed as she turned on the radio and turned it to a rock station. And coincidentally, the song that was playing was by Priss and the Replicants. It was one of Mom's very few all-English songs.

"I helped Mom write this song!" I exclaimed.

"You did?" Irodia asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah! She admits her English is bad, so she asked me to help correct it!"

"I know this song!" she admitted, laughing. "I'm not the biggest fan of your mom, but this is one of my favorite songs by her and her band!"

We both started singing along to the song, which Mom had called _A Dance in the Stars_:

_Have you ever had a day when you wanted to float away?  
__Ever had a day when your cares just won't go away?  
__Well, come on babe, and come dance with me.  
__Dance with me in the stars of the night sky._

_Forget the hell that you've gone through  
__since the day everything went down the tube.  
__For a moment, let those bad memories drift away  
__as you dance in the sky, dance way way away._

I wished I could just dance away, get away from all the memories that haunted me. But I knew that wasn't possible, even as I practically screamed the first two lines in the chorus as they came on:

"_Come on, babe! Just dance away the pain! Dance away the night in the starry sky!_"

* * *

After an hour or so of driving, Irodia and I drove into a quiet little neighborhood, and I looked out the window at all the houses and spacious lawns that lined the street.

"You act like you've never seen a house before," Irodia joked.

"There's no room for houses that size in the part of Tokyo Mom and I live in. You're lucky if you can even see grass, let alone patches of 'em the size of those lawns," I quipped. "Hell, you're lucky if you can get an apartment that's bigger than two or three rooms!"

"I believe it," she concurred.

"Mom and I have to share the one bedroom that's in our apartment, but it's not as bad as it sounds. I've lived with it my whole life."

"Ok, here we are," Irodia said as she pulled the car into the driveway. "Home sweet home."

As we both stepped out of the car, she went and unlocked the trunk while I opened the passenger-side door and dragged out two of my suitcases. Irodia aimed her keychain at the front door, and after pressing a button, I heard the lock click. _I should ask Mom to get one of those,_ I thought as I staggered towards the door with the suitcases.

"Let me get the door," Irodia said, opening it for me.

"Thanks," I said, stumbling through while she went back to get the other suitcases. And suddenly, a ripping pain gripped my stomach. I let out a strangled groan and instantly dropped to my knees, squeezing my eyes shut in the effort to try to block it out. _It still hurts so much!,_ I thought, taking deep breaths. The stab wounds had been like this ever since I'd accidentally reopened them during the battle at Genom Tower. Suddenly, for no reason, this pain would grip me and leave me gasping for breath, the pain would be so great.

It had done this during my final battle with Mom and the others, not even twelve hours before; I'd gone out and fought decently, then in the van, on the way back, I crumpled to the floor in pain. Sylia suggested I just take it easy for a while, but I hadn't known just lugging suitcases into the house was gonna make me drop in pain again.

"Ok, just one suitcase left in the car, then we're done!" Irodia announced as she lugged in two of them. She looked down at me and gasped, dropping the suitcases and bending down. "Yumeko, are you ok?"

"I think I pushed myself too much," I groaned, trembling, it hurt so much.

She sighed. "That was my fault. I should've just gotten the suitcases myself."

"No, it's ok," I assured her, still grimacing.

"No, it's not. You were stabbed two weeks ago, Nene said. I shouldn't have let you exert yourself. You're supposed to let yourself recover." She helped me to my feet, my legs wobbling underneath me. "I can show you to your room if you want."

"Where is it?" I asked, brushing the bangs out of my eyes.

"Um, what's that?" Irodia asked, moving my bangs out of the way. "You have a cut up near your hairline."

"Oh, that. It's not bugging me too much."

"I suppose that's an injury you got up on Genom Tower?"

I paled in shock; Irodia DID know!

"Hey, hey, it's ok," she said. "I said that Nene told me everything."

"I didn't know she told you THAT though..."

"C'mon, why else would she have made you a fake name as long as you're over here? You're hiding out from Genom as well as recovering emotionally. I guess being a Knight Saber will do that to you."

I felt like I was going to throw up. "Nobody else knows, right?"

"Nah. My husband and daughter know nothing about you. As far as Tyler's concerned, you're just a foster child."

I frowned. "Foster child? And who's Tyler? Your husband?"

"Yes. And Mikhaila's my daughter. She's your age. She doesn't even know we're expecting you. They're still asleep right now, so we gotta be quiet."

I looked at my watch; it was 5:23 AM. No wonder they were still asleep.

"Oh, and when you're around them, don't speak Japanese like you're doing with me right now, ok? They don't know you're from Japan. Tyler thinks you're from Mexico, and with that fake name, no wonder he thinks that."

"But I dunno much Spanish..."

Irodia grinned. "Neither does he. So just speak English and you'll be fine. With that cute accent of yours, he won't be able to tell you're not from Mexico anyway."

"Accent?" I hadn't even known I had one. She nodded, a mischievous smile on her face.

"I should show you to your room now. You look tired."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm not usually up at this hour."

"C'mon." She led me down the hallway, and as we came to the first room on the left, Irodia turned and led me into it. "This is our guest room. As long as you're staying with us, this will be your bedroom. The room across from you is the bathroom, the room further down the hallway on the right is Tyler's and my bedroom, and the room at the end is Mikhaila's. Do you need anything right now?" she added.

"No, that's ok." I suddenly grabbed my stomach; it was starting to hurt again. "Except some aspirin, maybe."

"Ok." She left and a moment later, came back with two pills in her hand. After I took them and swallowed them, she said, "Do you want me to get your pajamas or anything?"

"Nah. I'm too tired to change."

She grinned. "Ok. I guess I'll leave you to sleep, then." As she turned to leave, she said, "Yumeko?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome to the Brunstein household. I hope you feel welcome here."

I smiled softly and laid down on the bed. "I do, thanks."

"Good night." She laughed and corrected herself. "Or should I say 'good day'?"

I laughed. "Good night, Irodia."

After she left and closed the door, I laid my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. My first day in a new house was off to an ok start. As I drifted off to sleep, I started to wonder just how different things would be here than they were back home. Sure, probably no Boomers running around, and no reporters hounding at my door first thing in the morning, but what else? What laid ahead of me for the length of time I was going to be here? All of those things crossed my mind briefly, but at the moment, all I wanted was to get some sleep.

I could worry about that other bullshit later.

* * *

As I opened my eyes, for a moment, I thought I was still back home. I sat up, stretched, then as I scratched the back of my head, I suddenly realized I wasn't in my bedroom. I snapped my head in every direction in panic, then heaved a sigh. Oh yeah... I was at Irodia's house. This was going to take some getting used to.

I got up off the bed, walking towards the door, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something at the foot of my bed. I took a step forward, then saw it was my suitcases. Irodia must've put them in here while I was asleep. _Gee, she didn't have to do that,_ I thought, smiling softly as I walked out of the room and down to the kitchen.

"Oh, you're awake!" Irodia exclaimed. "How did you sleep?"

"Like a rock," I said, grinning, then took a look at the clock. "Shit, two in the afternoon?"

"It's alright. You were up till 5:30 in the morning, so I figured you needed your rest." She looked at me for a moment and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm just not used to anyone being here at this time. Don't you have a day job?"

"Nope, I'm just your classic stay-at-home mom, keeping the house clean and the meals cooked while the man of the house earns the money."

"Mom could never stay home for long," I said, getting a goofy grin. "She either had to go recording, or do a charity concert, or whatever. She could've cared less if reporters mobbed her; she wasn't going to let them scare her into being cooped up in our apartment."

"And what about you? You're a gymnast, right?"

"Yeah, but they didn't bug me nearly as much. They'd only bug me if they wanted to know something about Mom. They coulda cared less about gymnastics." I shrugged. "Oh well, better for me, I guess."

"Gymnastics is under-appreciated," she groaned as she put some dishes in the dishwasher. "What's so great about watching men beat each other up with padded gloves, anyway? Gymnastics is so much more graceful than that stuff."

I shrugged again. "To each his own. I'm gonna go take a shower now, is that ok?"

She brightened. "Sure! I can fix you some lunch if you want."

"Ok, thanks!"

I turned and walked back to my room, opening up the largest suitcase and grabbing some clothes out of it before walking to the bathroom. After grabbing a towel out of the bathroom closet, I set it down, locked the bathroom door, and stripped my clothes. I stepped into the shower stall and turned on the water nice and hot, and let it pour over my body. I grimaced when it hit my stab wounds, and when I looked down, I sighed. _Just look at what my body's been through,_ I thought. I looked at the orange-sized scar on my left thigh, then my eyes wandered to the long scar across my stomach, accompanied by the four scabs that would soon become four scars, four more scars on my battle-ravaged body. I instinctively rubbed my shoulder – where another scar sat – before reaching for the shampoo and scrubbing it into my hair.

I sighed and turned around to let the water beat on my back, before I yelped in pain as well as surprise. I'd forgotten all about the gash on the upper part of my back that hadn't quite healed yet. I cursed under my breath and rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, then put conditioner in it as I tried to ignore the steadily growing pain.

_Sylia told me to take it easy,_ I thought as my stab wounds started to hurt as well. _But how the hell am I supposed to do that after all that's gone on lately? I can't just snap my fingers and pretend everything's just peachy._ Especially since Michiko was gone...

At just the thought of Michiko, I could feel the anger start to boil up in me. It was because of Boh she was gone... it was HIS fault! I'd killed him, but that wouldn't bring my friend Michiko back. Even an idiot would know that.

"Damn you, Boh..." I grumbled, my anger as well as the pain of my lingering wounds growing in intensity. "Why did you kill her? I was your target...!" The tears started to run down my face, and I didn't wipe them away. "I could kill you a thousand times, and it still wouldn't make up for what you did "

I finally screamed in rage and started to pound away at the tile wall. "You son of a bitch!" I yelled, pounding my fists. My wounds started to hurt all the more, which in turn brought back the memories all the more vividly. Boh ambushing me as I left Linna's place, stabbing me me confronting him when I found out Michiko was missing and then, the moment I found out she was dead. All of those played back in my head, and as I fell to my knees with the pain that wracked my body all over again, I screamed and pounded the wall again.

"Damn you, Boh! I hope you're rotting in hell at this moment, I really do!" I cried out in pain and grabbed my stomach, then started to cry again. "Michiko, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

I heard a knocking on the door. "Yumeko?" I heard Irodia ask. "Are you ok?"

"No!"

"Do you want to talk?"

I sat there for a moment, thinking, then answered, "Sure... just lemme get changed."

I rinsed what was left of the conditioner out of my hair, then turned off the water, dried myself off, and got dressed. When I looked at the mirror, I was tempted to punch it, just like I'd done back home, but I resisted the urge. Killing Boh had made me feel good for a moment, but eventually it felt like it hadn't done a thing. I still felt he hadn't paid enough, but what could I do?

After I stepped out of the bathroom, I walked out to the living room, where Irodia was sitting on the couch. She looked at me, then patted the spot next to her, beckoning me to sit down.

"This may sound stupid, but what were you yelling about in the bathroom?" Irodia inquired.

I started to cry again, leaning forward and burying my face in my hands. "Everything... every damn thing that's happened since I got stabbed..."

"Who's Boh, if it's ok for me to ask?"

"He's..." I took a breath. "He's the one that stabbed me and killed Michiko. I hate him!"

"I think Nene mentioned something about him... that he was a Boomer?"

"Yeah. Up on Genom Tower, I killed him, but but it doesn't make me feel any better! I can't bring Michiko back, and I can't forgive him for killing her! She was my best friend!"

Irodia sighed and hugged me, and I even hugged her back, and started to cry on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry about everything, Yumeko."

"It still hurts so much..."

"Pain never goes away when you want it to. Michiko was your best friend, so of course you're hurting a lot, and you'll be hurting for a while. So if you ever want to cry, just cry. Don't be embarrassed about it."

"Everything hurts..." I whimpered when my stab wounds flared up in pain again.

"I know, I know," she whispered, rocking me. "It'll take some time."

Irodia just held me like that for a while, rocking me and whispering that it would be all right. I felt safe in her arms; this was like how Mom had held me when I was little, whenever I was upset about something. I hadn't been held like this for a long time, because as I'd gotten older, I'd pretend to be tough, saying that only babies would need to be coddled by their moms. I HAD to act tough; I was the daughter of Priss Asagiri, after all! But after what happened at the summit, everything came crashing down. I was emotionally a total wreck, and had been that way ever since that hellish night. And just when I thought I was getting back to normal, Boh had killed Michiko, and reminded me once again, the hard way, that I was only mortal.

I stood up and walked to my room, opening up one of the smaller suitcases. On the very top was a framed picture of me and Michiko, taken one spring day shortly before the summit incident. I showed it to Irodia.

"That's Michiko?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

"I'm sure you two just loved each other to pieces," she said, smiling softly.

I smiled the same way as I set the picture on the desk. "We did."

"She looks like she was very special to you. And what person isn't special to their friends? I suppose if a friend of mine were killed, I would react much the same way." She sighed and smiled. "Well, how about we unpack your things now? Can't live out of your suitcase forever."

I agreed, and so for the next half-hour or so, unzipped my suitcases, putting the clothes away in the dresser drawers and deciding where to put everything else. When Irodia came upon the last suitcase we hadn't touched, she opened it, then reached into it and held up a dried cherry blossom branch.

"How'd this get in here?" she asked. I gasped when I recognized it.

"Michiko she gave that to Mom for her birthday!"

"There's a note too," she said, handing it to me. I took it from her and read it.

_I guess you know where this is from, right? Just a little something to keep you company while you're away from home._

_Mom_

"Where should I set this?" Irodia asked.

"On the desk," I said, "next to Micchan's picture." She smiled and set it down gently, then continued to go through the suitcases. That suitcase happened to be the one I packed pictures and memorabilia in, so whenever Irodia picked up a picture, she'd look at it, then ask who was in it if she didn't know. I musta spent at least half an hour explaining the pictures, and whatever stories were behind them.

"Why are you clinging to Linna like that in this picture?" Irodia asked, laughing. I looked at the picture and laughed.

"Oh, that! That was when I was ten or so. She and Nene had taken me to an indoor pool, and there were a lot of people there. Linna was trying to get me to go into the water, trying to assure me that everything would be ok, that nobody was going to dunk me, but I just wouldn't let go of her!"

"You're afraid of water?"

I flushed. "I'm a little hydrophobic, yes, and I'd rather not have the whole world know about it. It's kinda embarrassing."

"And what about this picture?" She held up one of me on the uneven bars, doing my thing. I recognized that blue leotard.

"That was that was my first gymnastics competition."

"You look pretty young in that picture."

"I was twelve. My first taste of what it was like to perform in front of hundreds of people. Before that, Linna had only trained me in her gym. I had no idea what it would be like to do my flips in front of so many people."

"Did you win?"

"I got second place," I said, practically boasting. I was filled with a strangely good-feeling fuzzy sensation all of a sudden. It happened whenever I started talking about my accomplishments in gymnastics. And now, I was hoping that I could add 'Olympian' to that list, but I knew it wouldn't be easy to do that.

Irodia put the photo albums and pictures away in the bottom drawer of the desk, then stood up and stretched. "How about some lunch now? I'm sure you're starving."

"I am," I admitted, laughing as my stomach rumbled on cue.

We walked out to the kitchen and fixed ourselves some sandwiches. Irodia made a ham-and-cheese one, while I made a turkey one. I took my sandwich into the living room with me and turned on the TV, and after flipping through the channels, settled on a lousy talk show. _It's all staged, but it's mindless entertainment anyhoo,_ I thought as two squabbling lovers yelled at each other.

Irodia walked into the kitchen to make a phone call, and I remained sitting on the couch, letting the TV suck me in. This wasn't so bad, sitting around and relaxing. It was better than looking behind my back worrying if anybody from Genom was stalking me, that's for sure.

As I reached for some potato chips, I heard the faint sound of music coming from outside. As it got closer, I realized it was somebody in their car with the radio cranked up.

"That's Mikhaila with her friends," Irodia sighed, hanging up the phone. "Remember what I said?"

"Yeah, don't speak Japanese in front of her."

"Right, just English."

"Will do," I said, doing a mock salute as I shoved a potato chip into my mouth. As I heard the car pull to a stop in front of the house, my heart started to pound; what was this Mikhaila girl like?

"C'mon, c'mon!" I heard a girl yell. A moment later, I could hear several people walk up the steps, and then, the front door opened, and I saw Mikhaila Brunstein for the first time.

_Whoa! Evil Nene!,_ I thought, managing to keep a straight face as I looked at her and put another potato chip in my mouth. Her hair was exactly the same color as Nene's, but her eyes instead of being a bluish-green like Nene's, they were practically jade.

"Who the hell are you?" she said, looking at me with interest.

"Your would-be adopted sister," I quipped, smirking.

"Huh?" Mikhaila turned to look at Irodia. "Mom, who is she?"

"This is Rocío," she said, gesturing to me. "She'll be staying with us for a while."

"Got a guest?" one of Mikhaila's friends inquired, walking up behind her, followed by two more girls.

"I guess so," Mikhaila replied dryly.

"Rocío, this is my daughter Mikhaila," Irodia said, gesturing to the redhead frowning at me.

"Hi," I said.

"Introduce your friends to her, Mikhaila," she said.

"Ok, ok," Mikhaila groaned. "This girl with the blond hair is Juliana. The brunette is Sara, and the girl with the tail is Xania."

"Tail?" I asked. I looked over at the girl next to the door, Xania, and gasped when I saw Mikhaila was speaking the truth. There was what looked like a monkey tail behind her. "Is that real?"

"Not really," Xania said, grinning behind her John Lennon-like shades. "It's cybernetic."

"I've never seen one of those before!" I exclaimed, standing up and slowly making my way towards her.

"Really?" She wagged her tail like a dog.

"Uh, well, where I'm from, cybernetics can only be used for medical stuff. They can't be used for fun."

"That's the beauty of living in Cali," Xania said, grinning again. "We've got some of the most lenient laws about cybernetic stuff in the whole country."

"Look at her, drooling over that tail like a five-year-old," Mikhaila joked. "What was your name?"

"Rocío," I replied.

"I'll just call you Rosho," Xania said. "That ok?"

"Sure."

Suddenly, Sara walked up to me and asked something in Spanish. "_¿Cómo fue tu viaje, muchacha?_"

I smirked. I knew somebody would think I was from Mexico eventually. "_Bien. Soy cansada, pero está bien. No se importa_."

She nodded, while everyone else stood there with their mouths open. "_Espero que te gustas este lugar. Es divertido si sabes a dónde ir._"

"_Supongo que sí._"

"Ok, Mexicans," Mikhaila quipped, "we gonna go to the mall or not?"

"Yeah," Sara replied, instantly switching to English again.

"Wanna come, Rosho?" Xania asked.

"Nah."

"Ok."

"Weren't you gonna go grab some CDs?" Juliana asked Mikhaila.

"Right. C'mon and help me choose!"

Mikhaila and her buddies ran back to her bedroom, and after another minute, came back and went running out the door. "See ya, Rosho!" I heard Xania call out as she shut the door.

"I just might get used to that name yet," I muttered aloud.

"I thought you said you didn't know much Spanish," Irodia spoke up, chuckling.

"I don't! I just know the basics!"

She just chuckled again. "So, what should we do about school? Do you want to start tomorrow, or rest for another day?"

"I think I'll start tomorrow. May as well get it over with." I winced when my back wound started to make itself known again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I thought for a moment, then said, "Does she always do that? Run in and out of the house?"

"Yeah. You rarely see her without her mob of friends around her. The only time she's ever really at home is when she's eating dinner or sleeping," she sighed.

"When's Tyler supposed to be home?"

"He'll be home in about two hours. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll love you."

I sighed and went back to watching the cheesy talk show on TV. I'd never eaten a meal with a guy at the table, just Mom or Nene or the others. I wondered if Irodia knew that I didn't really have a dad, but I decided not to ask. I figured I'd have to get used to having a man around the table instead of just girls like it had been my whole life. Seems basic enough, right? Everyone else had a dad to eat dinner with, right? Well, not me; there'd been no real male figures in my life, and well, I liked it that way.

But I wondered if this Tyler guy would understand how weary I was of guys. After all, only two guys had ever taken interest in me. One only wanted to sleep with me, and the other was out to kill me. Who could blame me for my feelings about guys? Of course, those two were about my age, and Tyler was a grown man, but I was still weary, somehow. What was I supposed to expect when I met him?

* * *

"Rocío, can you mash the potatoes for me?" Irodia asked, pointing at the boiling pot of potatoes sitting on the stove.

"Sure," I said. "Um, which cabinet is the masher in?"

"In the one to the right of the dishwasher."

"Ok."

After draining the water from the pot, I bent down and took the masher out of the cabinet, plugged it in, and turned it on, watching as the metal parts of the masher moved up and down rapidly, turning the soft chunks of potatoes into mush.

"Did you ever cook with your mom?" she suddenly asked.

"Sometimes. She wasn't really much of a cook; she preferred things that were quick and easy, and with as busy as we both were, I guess it was understandable."

"How long should I let them sit?" Mikhaila asked, referring to the chicken she was frying.

"Just check them every minute and make sure they don't burn, hon," Irodia said.

_I guess I'm not the only one that doesn't cook very often,_ I thought, smirking. This was kind of weird, actually, standing here and cooking dinner with other people. For most families, it was probably normal, but it wasn't normal for me.

"Hey, we like our potatoes mashed, not pulverized," Mikhaila quipped, eyeing me. I looked down and saw that the potatoes were almost beyond mashed. I turned off the masher, unplugged it, and set it aside.

"I could say the same about the chicken," I imitated. She looked down, gulped as she saw the chicken legs and thighs were starting to burn, then grabbed the tongs and quickly turned them over.

"So, how long you gonna be here?" she asked.

"Me? A little while."

"Define a 'little while'."

"Mikhaila, I thought I told you not to be rude," Irodia interrupted, frowning as she stirred the green beans.

"It was just a question!" she protested.

"Rocío will be here as long as she needs to be. She's been through a lot, so don't press it, all right?" She turned to me and grinned, handing me a large serving bowl. "Rocío, will you put the mashed potatoes in this, please?"

"S sure," I said, taking it. I was just starting to scoop them into the bowl when suddenly, I heard the front door get thrust open.

"I'm home!" I heard a man call out.

"Dad!" Mikhaila yelled, racing out of the kitchen. I peeked my head out into the living room and saw her run into a blond-haired man's arms.

"Hey, kiddo! How are you?"

"I'm ok."

The man looked up from his daughter and caught sight of me. "Ah, you must be Rocío." He walked over to me while I just stood there, frozen. "I hope you had a nice trip here. Do you like it here so far?"

"It's it's ok," I stammered, taking a step back.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Oh, Tyler!" Irodia exclaimed, walking up next to me. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Great! I'm starved!" He sniffed the air. "Makin' chicken?"

Mikhaila gasped and shoved her way through us and back to the kitchen; she'd forgotten she was the one tending to the chicken.

"Rocío, this is Tyler," Irodia said, gesturing to him.

"Hi," I said.

"Why so pale?" Tyler asked.

"I'm just tired," I blurted; it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Aw, well, that's no biggie. After that plane ride, I'm sure you're wiped out."

I just nodded and looked down at my feet. Why the hell was I so nervous?

"I hope you're hungry," Irodia said, smiling.

"Oh, I am!" Tyler said, beating on his stomach with his hands.

Once the chicken was finished, Irodia set the table and brought out the food. As we all sat down, everybody started to join hands. I raised an eyebrow, confused.

"We're saying grace," Irodia whispered, taking my hand.

"Oh " _Wonderful, a religious family,_ I thought dryly. Mikhaila reluctantly took my other hand into hers, and as I saw everyone bow their heads and close their eyes, I figured I should do likewise, so I did.

"Dear Lord," Tyler said, "thank you for this meal we are about to receive. Thank you for delivering Rocío to our household for us to watch over. We hope that you will continue to watch over this family as you have. In Lord's name, Amen."

"Amen," Irodia and Mikhaila repeated.

"Uh, Amen," I said quickly. _What did he say? Me being delivered here? I'm not a freakin' package!,_ I thought, wrinkling my nose at the thought.

"What's wrong?" Mikhaila asked dryly as we started to eat. "You act like you've never known religion."

I bit my lip to keep from saying something stupid. "Well my family was never very religious. Not every family says grace before dinner." I wondered what she'd say if she found out I wasn't even a Christian. I was more in the neutral zone when it came to religion than anything else.

"So how was your day, Mikhaila?" Irodia asked as she put a forkful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

"Had a stupid science test today."

"How'd it go?"

"Dunno. The teacher'll hand 'em back on Friday."

"I hope you studied," Tyler said.

Mikhaila merely grunted in response.

"Oh, Mikhaila," Irodia said, "Rocío is going to be starting school tomorrow, so when you two get there, could you pick up her schedule and show her to her classes?"

"I guess," she answered grudgingly, turning to me. "Ok, Rocío, listen. I usually leave at seven for school, and Sara usually picks me up on the way there. So better get up early."

_I'm normally still asleep at seven,_ I thought.

"What, did you go mute?" she snapped.

I grinned sheepishly. "No, my voice works fine. And apparently so does yours."

Tyler chuckled while Mikhaila grumbled under her breath. "I haven't known you for that long, but already I can tell you're a real smart-ass," she said, biting into her chicken leg.

"I see my reputation precedes me," I joked.

"I'll show you around at school tomorrow, but don't follow me around like a lost puppy, ok?"

My eyebrow twitched. "I'm sure I'll be able to navigate the school on my own within a few days, don't worry about li'l ol' me."

"Well, enough about school," Tyler spoke up. "Rocío, how about you tell us a little about yourself, huh?"

"Like what?"

"Family, interests, that sort of thing."

"Uh..."

"Ok, let's just start with your family. What do your parents do?"

How was I supposed to answer this? Seemed simple enough, but then again, I was trying to keep the truth about me a secret. "Well... my mom likes to race her motorcycle."

"She a racer?"

"Something like that..."

"What about your dad?"

"What dad?" I blurted, then realized what I just said, and flushed.

"You know, your dad. What does he do?"

"I don't have a dad. It's just me and Mom."

Irodia started to look worried; I was probably already saying too much as it was. "Irodia, you know about her," Tyler said, looking at her. "She doesn't have a dad?"

"Not much of one..." she said.

"What'd you do, swallow a bone?" Mikhaila quipped as she saw me grimace in pain; my stomach wounds were hurting again.

"Excuse me," I said abruptly, standing up and marching to my room. Irodia followed.

"What're you doing?" she loudly whispered as I sat on my bed.

"He wanted to know about my dad! What was I supposed to say?"

"Just make something up!"

"Maybe I'll just say the truth. That the only role he played in my life was playing sperm donor! I don't even know who he is!" I groaned and grabbed my stomach.

"Need some aspirin?" she asked.

"That'd be great..."

"What's going on?" Tyler asked, walking into the room. "Something wrong with your stomach, Rocío?"

"Just a stomachache," I said, still grimacing.

"Sure it's not cramps?" I heard Mikhaila quip from the hallway.

"Stuff it!" I yelled.

"Let me get the aspirin," Irodia said, leaving the room.

"So what do you mean you don't have a dad?" Tyler asked, sitting on the bed next to me.

"He's never around," I said.

"Well, I guess that would explain why you looked so nervous when you first saw me. You don't even have a real father figure in your life."

"Sure don't..."

"Here's the aspirin, Rocío," Irodia said, returning with the pills in her hand. I took them from her and swallowed them quickly.

"Thanks."

"Mikhaila," Tyler said, turning to her, "why don't you go do your homework or something? I'd like to spend some time with Rocío."

Mikhaila grunted and went to her room while Irodia went back to the kitchen.

"Is there any way I can help you?" he asked when it was just the two of us in the room.

"What do you mean?" I responded.

"Well, you know, just stuff. Like do you want me to hang out with you, help with homework, anything?"

"I'd ask if you could erase my memory of the past five months, but you can't do that."

"Why? What's happened in the last five months?"

I sighed and put my hand on my leg, feeling the sleeve underneath my jeans. "A hell of a lot... stuff I just wish I could forget..."

_But I can't forget,_ I thought as Tyler looked at me, confused. _Damn scars, damn panic attacks__it's impossible to forget! And the nightmares I've had since then__they never leave me in peace! And the fact that Michiko's dead__I can't reverse that!_

"So what's happened in the past five months?" Tyler repeated, snapping me out of my own little world.

"A few weeks ago, my best friend was killed..." I jabbed my thumb in the direction of the picture of Michiko and me that sat on the desk. "And so much more than that happened before that. I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's ok," he said. "If you ever want to talk about anything, I'm here."

_Everyone here is willing to lend an ear,_ I thought as Tyler left. _But back home, I couldn't talk about it at all. Nobody cared, outside of the Knight Saber circle and Michiko, anyway. Even the principal at Kihi just wanted to get me psychiatric help so I wouldn't end up back in his office again._

It was weird to have everyone focus on me instead of their jobs or something. I wasn't used to this kind of attention. But, I guess I'd have to get used to it; I was the new kid on the block, after all. Of course everyone was going to be curious about me...

* * *

"Rocío, wake your ass up!" was the first thing I heard when I woke up the next morning.

"Hwah ?" I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and looked at the clock on the nightstand. It said 6:34 AM. What an ungodly hour to wake up at.

"Did you hear me?" Mikhaila snapped again. I looked towards the door and saw her standing there, a frown on her face.

"Yeah, don't need to yell."

"Hurry up already! We leave at seven, remember?"

"I think you mentioned that sometime yesterday, yeah..."

"Just c'mon," she grumbled, slamming the door. I yawned and got out of bed, made the bed, and picked out some clothes to wear today: my favorite blue sweatshirt and some jeans. After I stripped my pajamas, I put on my leg sleeve and got dressed, snatching Michiko's necklace off the desk and putting it on. I brushed my hair and walked out to the kitchen to fix myself a bagel. I was quick to notice Mikhaila wasn't in the kitchen making herself breakfast. _Damn, why isn't she out here if she was in so much of a rush?,_ I thought, shrugging it off as I buttered my bagel after it popped out of the toaster.

"What're you doing in there?" I yelled down the hallway.

"Putting on make-up, what else?" Mikhaila yelled back.

"You're gonna spend the next twenty minutes putting make-up on?"

"Well, duh!"

I never bothered much with make-up; I wasn't gonna pretty myself up for anybody. All I figured someone had to do was wash their face and brush their teeth, and then they'd be fine. Mom was the same way, except when putting on a concert.

I walked down the hallway and knocked on the door to Tyler and Irodia's bedroom. After a moment, Irodia opened it, still dressed in her pajamas.

"Sorry to wake you up, but do you know where my backpack is?" I asked.

"It's in the closet," she replied, yawning. "It's the green one. I already put your school supplies in there, if you don't mind."

"No, I don't," I joked. "Thanks."

"Have fun at school. Oh, when you get there, you need to stop by the financial office and pick up your schedule."

"Ok."

"There's also a note in the front pocket of your backpack that you need to give to your gym teacher."

"What for?"

Irodia lowered her voice and said, "You can't possibly play all those games when you're still recovering from your stab wounds, right? The note is to excuse you from anything too strenuous."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did," she sighed. "You don't want those to keep reopening, right?"

"Right..."

"Exactly. Need I go on?"

"No," I said, grinning. "Thanks again. One less thing to worry about." I looked towards Mikhaila's bedroom and dryly asked, "Geez, does she always spend half an hour just dolling herself up?"

"Yes. She's quite vain, even though I tell her she's prettier without all of her make-up and hair spray. She thinks she has an image to maintain."

"What, being a snobby smart-ass?" I quipped. She laughed.

"What's so funny?" Mikhaila inquired from her bedroom.

"About how you're going to be late for school again if you don't stop playing with your make-up," Irodia remarked.

"Huh?" There was a pause, and then Mikhaila came running out of her bedroom, past Irodia and me, and down the hallway to the closet, where she snatched her backpack and tossed it over her shoulder. "C'mon, Rocío, gotta go!" she yelled to me.

"Not gonna eat breakfast?" Irodia asked.

"I can grab something at school."

"Better go," she said, shoving me playfully down the hallway. "Have fun."

"I'll try," I said, walking to the living room and to the closet to get my backpack. After putting on my shoes, me and Mikhaila walked out the door and down the street.

"How can you walk around without make-up?" Mikhaila asked, raising an eyebrow as we turned the corner and onto another street.

"I don't like make-up, that's all. Have a problem with that?"

"Tomboy," she muttered.

"You have no idea," I joked.

We walked down the street in total silence, and as we did, I started wondering what this school was going to be like. Was it going to be full of snobby kids, or was it one of those schools that had a reputation for having fights, kinda like Kihi did? I decided not to ask Mikhaila about it; I'd rather find it out for myself.

"Something wrong with your leg?" Mikhaila suddenly asked. "You're kinda limping."

"Hurt my leg a while back. I used to have to walk with a brace, but only recently got it off."

"What happened to it to make you need a lousy brace?"

"Got shot."

"That's it?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean 'that's it?' It went through my leg. I'll show you the scar if you want."

She flushed and walked ahead of me. "No thanks."

"Oh wait, I have TWO from it," I added wryly.

"I said no thanks!" she snapped. "You're enjoying this, aren't you!"

"What makes you say that?" I asked, a goofy grin on my face.

"I don't care about no scars! Besides, if it's really THAT ugly, you can just get it removed."

It took all my willpower to not punch Mikhaila across the face. She had no damn clue about the story behind the leg scars, let alone the ones behind my other scars and the four marks on my stomach and the mark on my back that would become scars as well.

"You can't say the scars are ugly unless you've seen 'em," I said slowly, my body having tensed up. "Besides, the story behind them is way uglier."

She frowned and was about to answer when she heard a car pulling to a stop besides us. I turned to look, and saw Mikhaila's three friends – Juliana, Xania, and Sara – in it, with Sara behind the wheel.

"Yo, Rosho!" Xania exclaimed, waving to me. I shyly waved back.

"C'mon, get in, you guys," Juliana said. Mikhaila ran up and leaped over the side of the car – it was a convertible – and sat next to Xania in the back seat. I just stood there; there didn't seem to be much more room.

"You can sit on my lap," Xania said quickly.

"If you insist," I replied, shrugging. I walked to the other side of the car and leaped over the side in much the same manner Mikhaila did, sitting in Xania's lap.

As Sara started up the car again and drove us down the street, Mikhaila groaned, "Must you have your legs stretched across my lap?"

"Aw, cut 'er some slack," Juliana said. "Unless YOU wanna sit in Xania's lap."

"No thanks."

"_Rocío, espero que estás lista,_" Sara suddenly said to me.

"_Estoy lista,_" I replied. "You don't need to speak Spanish with me, y'know."

"I know, but it's fun, and 'sides, I need practice," she joked.

"What year of Spanish are you in?"

"This is my third year in the class. _¡Es divertida!_"

"Spanish is boring," Mikhaila said. "French is way more exotic." She looked down at my legs and snapped, "Could you take your feet off my lap?"

"Got nowhere else to put 'em," I said dryly.

"Well, these are brand-new pants, and I don't want your shoes all over 'em! So sue me!"

"For how much?" Xania quipped. I laughed, then held my stomach and groaned in pain when my stab wounds started to hurt again. "What's wrong?"

"Stomachache," I said.

"Again? You had one last night too," Mikhaila said.

"What's wrong with having a stomachache? Is it against the law to have one?"

"No, but at least take some damn aspirin for it if it's bugging you so much!"

"I've had it for the past two weeks," I said dryly. "I'll live."

After Sara pulled into the school parking lot, we all piled out and headed towards the front doors. I held my stomach the whole way, Xania staying close by my side in case I suddenly dropped to the ground or something.

"Sure you don't need to go to the nurse?" she asked.

"I'm sure," I said. "D'you know where the financial office is? I gotta pick up my schedule."

"Sure. I can take you there myself."

Before I could protest, she walked past me and through the doors. As I walked through, I casually plugged my ears, fully expecting the metal detector to go off. I was surprised, however, when no loud blare greeted me.

"Whatcha pluggin' your ears for?" Xania asked, looking back at me.

"There's no metal detector here?" I asked.

"Nope. Why, got somethin' metal on ya?"

"More like IN me. I have some plates in my leg and one in my face," I responded as she led me to the financial office.

"What from?"

"A nasty fight I got into a while back."

"Sounds fun," Xania said dryly.

"Not really," I mumbled to myself as we walked into the office.

"Hi, we need to get the schedule for my friend here," Xania told the secretary, gesturing to me.

_Oh wow, she's already calling me her friend,_ I thought.

"What's your name?" the secretary asked me.

"Rocío Monterrey."

"Ok." After typing my name into the computer, she took a look at the screen and said, "Oh, today's your first day, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Let me print out your schedule for ya," she said, typing a little more. "I'll print out a map of the school for you too, if that's ok."

"Fine by me."

"Here you go," she said after printing up my schedule and the map, handing them to me. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I said, taking them.

"Lemme look at your schedule," Xania said after we walked out of the office, looking over my shoulder. "Hey, you have the same first-period class as me!" She wagged her tail in excitement.

"How long have you had that thing, anyway?" I asked, pointing to her tail.

"Five years. Had it since I was thirteen."

"So you're eighteen?"

"Yep. How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"My mom didn't want me to get it put on, and we fought about it for months before she finally gave in, just to get me off her back about it."

"Do you have feeling in it?"

"Sure do. If you want your own tail, I know where you can get one."

"No thanks," I said quickly as we reached our first class. "They don't allow cybernetic add-ons or implants in the Olympics anyway."

"Hm? You wanna go to the Olympics?"

"Yeah."

"Heh, don't all athletes," she quipped as she sat down at her desk, me sitting in the one next to her. "So what do you wanna go to the Olympics for?"

"Gymnastics."

"Good luck. I bet that area's full of stiff competition."

"I'm sure it is."

"Good morning, everyone!" the teacher said loudly as she walked into the classroom. "Let's get started, shall we?"

The only response from the students in the room was a collective groan.

The teacher cleared her throat and said, "We have a new student today." She turned her head towards me and asked, "You're Rocío, right?"

"Y-yeah," I stammered, looking down at the desk.

"Class, this is Rocío Monterrey. She's new to our school, and I hope you all make her feel welcome."

"Hi," several kids muttered.

_Sure, single me out, why dontcha,_ I thought dryly, flushing in embarrassment. "Uh hi," I said quickly, wanting to dig a hole and hide at this moment.

"Everyone, take out your Tess books so we can go over the assigned chapter from last night," the teacher said.

"Tess books?" I wondered aloud.

The teacher walked over to me and handed me a copy of the book she was talking about. "We're reading _Tess of the d'Urbervilles_. Have you read it?"

"Haven't even heard of it," I admitted, looking at the cover.

"A lot of people haven't," she sighed. "But I'm sure you'll like it. I'm Mrs. Hoover, by the way."

"I'll have to remember that," I said, smiling shyly. _She reminds me of Mrs. Sasaki,_ I thought as she told everyone to turn to chapter 2. _Maybe things aren't so different at this school than they were at Kihi, after all._


	2. The more things change

The next few classes went much the same way, with the teacher introducing me to everybody while I just sat there hanging my head, avoiding eye contact with anybody. This was embarrassing. Back home, I always had school with the same kids, from elementary school all the way up to high school. I'd never transferred before, so this was an entirely new experience. It felt so weird, not knowing a single person in this whole school besides Mikhaila and her friends. I even almost missed the kids I hated, like Maru and Masahiro.

And to make it worse, I only had two classes with Xania, but fortunately, we both had the same lunch hour, so as I was walking down to the cafeteria, she ran up to me and accompanied me.

"Um, isn't the cafeteria this way?" I asked her, pointing the opposite way in which we were going.

"Yeah, but the cafeteria food sucks, trust me," she said. "How 'bout we go to Larry's or somethin'?"

"You're allowed to go off campus for lunch?"

"Yeah. This school has an open-campus policy. Why, was your old school closed-campus?"

I nodded. "What's Larry's, anyway?"

"Burger joint. They got the biggest, juiciest burgers in the world. You'll love it!"

"I'll trust you," I said as we walked out the doors and to the nearest crosswalk.

After crossing the street, Xania and I walked a block or two before coming to a small building alongside the road. It was crowded with students, laughing and doing homework and stuffing themselves silly.

"Must be popular," I remarked.

"Yeah, and that's part of the problem," Xania muttered as she led me inside. "Sometimes ya gotta wait twenty minutes in line before they'll finally get around to takin' your order."

"Why does that not surprise me?" I said dryly as we stood in line, looking up at the menu above the registers to see what I could order. "Hmm, is that any good?"

"What's any good?"

"The Super Veggie Burger Deluxe."

"I've tried it once or twice. It's not too bad."

"Ok, I think I'll have that, then." I took my lunch money out of my pocket and counted it. "Damn, don't have enough."

"How much you got?" Xania asked.

"Five bucks. That burger costs $7.49."

"I can chip in. Here." She dug around in her pocket and slapped some crumpled one-dollar bills in my hand. "Don't need to pay me back, either. It's just a few lousy bucks anyway."

"Thanks."

Once it was our turn to order, I ordered the veggie burger and a soda, while Xania ordered a double-cheeseburger, fries, and a soda. As we walked outside, some of Xania's friends yelled at her, wanting her to join them at the table they were sitting at.

"Hey guys," Xania said as we both walked up to the table. "Mind if Rosho here joins us?"

"Nah, that's ok," one of them said, looking at me. "Feel free to grab a seat."

"Uh, thanks," I said, sitting down next to Xania.

"You new?" a black girl asked me.

"Yeah. Today's my first day. I'm Rocío."

"I'm Karen. And this is Vicky," she said, pointing at the other girl.

"Hi."

"Rosho's staying with Mikhaila's family," Xania said. "She's kinda like a foster kid, like me."

"You're a foster kid?" I gasped.

She shrugged. "Yeah, it's all right. My real parents are all fucked up in the heads, so I've been living with my foster mom since."

"For how long?"

"I dunno, eight years maybe."

"How are your parents messed up in the heads? They do drugs or something?"

"You name it, they did it. Boy, what a shock for me, being taken out of that crack house and being dumped with my foster mom. She's the total opposite of my parents, a real religious woman, a real Christian. She's always saying that I need to wash myself of my sins and shit. I hate her."

"Yet she let you get a tail put on?" I raised an eyebrow.

Xania laughed. "Like I said, we fought for months over it, and she only let me get it put on if I agreed to go to church with her without fighting over wearing a damn dress. AND if I read the Bible for an hour every day."

"Every day?"

"Yeah," she grumbled, scratching her head with the tip of her tail. "She follows the Ten Commandments to the letter, too. If you're ever at my house, try to avoid talking with her. She'll just spout off all this religious shit, and I don't think you want that."

"Sure don't," I agreed, biting into my burger. "I'm not the religious type anyway."

"Heh. Too bad. Mikhaila's family goes to church every Sunday, so you'll just have to put up with it."

"Aw hell..."

"Enough about this religion shit," Karen groaned. "What about you, Rocío? Tell us about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Where'd you come from, for starters?"

"The wonderful land of Oz," I quipped.

Karen grinned. "Seriously now."

_I am being serious,_ I thought as I sipped my soda. _Tokyo's way different than this place._ "Well...where I came from, it was way busier than this neighborhood is. This place is so quiet, it kinda makes me nervous."

"Ah, a city girl?"

"Yeah. The streets were always crowded with cars and buses, and the buildings were so tall that the only way you could see the sky is if you looked straight up, and even then, the sky was usually yellow or brown from pollution."

"Sounds like LA," Vicky quipped.

"It wasn't LA," I replied quickly.

"So why are you living with Mikhaila?" Karen asked, finishing off her sandwich.

_Irodia said to make something up,_ I thought. _Hmm, what would be a good excuse for all my scars?_ "I was abused," I lied. "My dad was never around, but when he did come home, he'd be in such a drunken stupor that he'd beat me up."

"What about your mom?" Vicky asked, wide-eyed.

"She was too scared to do anything about it." God, Mom would kill me if she ever found out I was saying this! "But eventually a friend of hers said she knew somebody I could stay with to get away from my dad, so she called Irodia and asked if I could stay with her."

"You don't look like you have any fresh bruises," Karen pointed out.

"Maybe not, but I do have this." I pushed the bangs that were near my right ear out of the way, so that everyone could get a view of the cut near my hairline.

"Bad cut there," Xania said, peeking over her shades at the cut. "He attack you with a knife?"

"Yeah." Of course, it was actually a Boomer that had cut me on the forehead, but they didn't need to know that. "I had to hit him over the head with a lamp to get him to stop attacking me."

"Damn," she muttered. "So what about those plates you were tellin' me about?"

"Those? Oh, those!" I cleared my throat. "Well...there was this one time when he was really beating me up bad, and one punch broke my cheekbone. It was broke so bad I had to get a plate put in to stabilize it."

"And the ones in your leg?"

"He had a hunting rifle in his bedroom closet, and he was really drunk, so he grabbed it and threatened me with it. I grabbed it and told him to stop aiming it at me, but he pulled the trigger and it went through my leg. Which is why I walk with a slight limp, as you've probably noticed."

"That's fucked up!" Xania exclaimed, eyes wide.

_And that's just a lie,_ I thought, having paled at the memory of how I really got the scars. _The real story is even worse._

"What time is it?" Karen asked Vicky.

Vicky looked at her pager and said quickly, "Time to get back." She stood up and shook my hand. "Rocío, it was nice to meet you. Hope you get better soon."

"Thanks," I said.

After throwing my trash away, Xania and I started to head back to the school. After an awkward silence, she said, "I thought you said you got into a nasty fight."

"I did. It was a fight for my life."

"Well, makes sense to me..." She heaved a sigh. "Sorry you had to go through that bullshit, Rosho. Mikhaila didn't mention any of that to me."

"You and your friends back there are the only ones I've told."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Xania suddenly lunged forward and gave me a huge hug, making me gasp in surprise. "I'm really sorry," she said. "I guess we've each gone through our own hell."

"I guess we have..."

"When I first saw you, you looked as normal as could be. But damn, how was I to guess what you'd gone through!" She shook her head in disbelief and adjusted her shades. "Goes to show looks aren't everything, I guess..."

_Oh, you have no clue,_ I thought as I followed Xania back to the school for my next class. _You have no clue about my past. I don't think you want to know. If you think these stories I've told are bad, just wait till, if at all, you find out about the summit battle..._

_-----_

I couldn't remember showing Mikhaila my class schedule, but when I got out of my last class, she was right there, waiting for me. She didn't look too happy.

"What kept you?" she snapped as I walked out the door.

"I had to get my stuff into my backpack," I said, raising an eyebrow. "And besides, the teacher wanted to talk to me."

"About what?"

"How I did in my math class at my last school, because I didn't understand what the hell he was talking about."

"What were you going over?" she asked as we walked outside to the student parking lot.

"Logarithms," I replied.

"Those are easy! How could you not understand those?"

"Ever got the thought through your thick skull that what some people consider easy, others consider mission impossible?" I groaned.

Mikhaila snorted. I smirked when she decided to ignore me; I suppose she didn't want to admit she wasn't Miss Perfect.

"We're going to the mall," Juliana said after everyone piled into Sara's convertible. "Rocío, wanna come along?"

"Uh...no, that's alright. I have some homework to do," I said, at the same time wondering if I'd actually said that aloud. Had I just said I'd rather do homework than go to the mall? I'd get so much flack for that if Linna or Nene were here right now. "I'm kinda winded, anyway."

"From this being your first day? That's fine."

"I can already see you're gonna be no fun to live in the same house with," Mikhaila said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Normally I LOVE going to the mall," I replied, even though I'd rarely gone there without Michiko. "I just wanna get into a half-normal routine first."

"Need help with any of your homework?" Xania asked. "I'll help you if you need it."

"Look at her talk!" Mikhaila joked. "Xania, passing up a chance to go to the mall?" She looked up at the sky. "Well, I don't see pigs flying yet."

"Judging from the look on Rocío's face, you're begging to be slapped," Sara quipped as she drove the car out of the parking lot and down the street.

"You read my mind," I said.

"So tell us something about yourself, Rocío," Juliana said. "What did you do for fun back home?"

_Besides beat up Boomers?_ I thought sarcastically. "Uh...well, I liked to go and hang out with my friend at the mall, and sing, and act in plays."

"What part do you play?"

"Huh?"

"Singing, I mean. You a soprano or alto?"

"My mom said I sound more like a first alto, but she also said I could be a second soprano if need be."

"Your mom into music?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "I miss her..."

"Well," Xania said, "we'll make sure ya have plenty of fun here. You'll be so busy that you won't have time to miss anybody back home!"

_That's nice of you to say,_ I thought, _but there's no way I can be too busy to think of Michiko. Mom and the others...I wonder how they're doing too? Are they gonna be able to handle fighting Boomers without me?_

"Hello?" I snapped out of my own world to see Mikhaila waving her hand in front of my face. "We're home."

"Oh!" I said quickly, jumping out of the car. Sara popped open the trunk so I could get my backpack, and once I did, I waved bye to the others.

"Sure you don't need my help?" Xania called to me.

"Yeah, I'm sure!" I called back.

"See ya!" Juliana called as she and the others drove away.

Once the convertible was out of sight, I dropped to my hands and knees right there in the driveway, whimpering. Jumping out of the car like that had not been too good for my lingering stab wounds, so here I was, having pushed myself too hard, again.

"Shit...!" I groaned, my vision blurred by tears. It was just another reminder of what Boh had done, another reminder that just because I was in a different place, didn't mean that I'd left my demons behind. _Dammit, gotta stop rushing so much,_ I thought, whimpering some more as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. _They'll never heal if I keep rushing!_

"Yumeko?" I heard Irodia call out as I heard her open the front door.

"A little help here..." I said in a strangled voice. She apparently heard me, for a second later, I heard her running towards me.

"What did you do now?" she asked, helping me to my feet.

"Hopped out of Sara's car too fast," I groaned, my legs wobbling. I saw Irodia get a grin on her face. "What's so funny?"

"I have a surprise for you," she said, still grinning, "but I think I'll wait until you're not in so much pain."

"No, no, show me," I insisted.

"Well..." Irodia rolled her eyes in sarcasm. "I'll just say you won't have to worry about jumping out of that car too fast once you see it."

She helped me inside the house, and beckoned me to sit on the couch. She walked down the hallway, and a minute later came back with a heat massager in her hand.

"Here, use this," she said, handing it to me. "The heat'll help with the pain."

I reluctantly took it and turned it on. I ran it over my stomach, and frowned when the pain didn't lessen any. Irodia told me it'd take a minute to work, and after a short while, it turned out she was right. I leaned back on the couch and ran it over my stomach for a while, closing my eyes as I let the soothing heat sink in. Probably would've helped me a lot if I knew about this a few months ago.

"Whenever they start hurting, just use that," Irodia said after I sat up and turned it off. "It's much better than getting yourself addicted to painkillers."

"Aw c'mon, nothing wrong with a few drops of morphine every so often," I joked as I turned the massager back on; my back wound was hurting now. "Can you get my back for me?"

"Sure."

She sat down next to me and ran the massager over my upper back. As she did, she asked, "So how was your first day of school?"

"It was ok, but I'm not used to not knowing anybody."

"Did Mikhaila help you get around?"

"No, but Xania did."

"Xania?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's a surprise."

"How's it a surprise?"

"She's just more of an introvert, that's all. She hardly ever strays from Mikhaila's little group of buddies."

"She offered to help me with homework too instead of going to the mall. Mikhaila looked really surprised to hear that."

Irodia smiled. "Well, it's nice to know you're already making friends."

"She calls me Rosho," I added, grinning.

"I noticed that yesterday," she said. "She usually doesn't take a shining to people so fast, from my experience, anyway." She paused. "Well, other than boys."

"She popular with guys or what?"

Irodia groaned as she stood up. "Yes, but not in the way you'd want her to be. She's a bit...loose, if you know what I mean."

My eyes widened. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"I'm glad she likes you, but for the love of God, don't pick up her habits."

"She was telling me about her foster mom today," I said, grimacing at the memory. "I'd think she wouldn't have time to act that way, with how her foster mom acts and all."

"I've heard she lost her virginity when she was fourteen," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Fourteen? I'm seventeen, and I've only been kissed once, let alone made out or slept with anybody."

"By who, may I ask?" she inquired with a mischievous grin. "And when was your first kiss?"

I paled and looked away, hanging my head slightly. "Two and a half weeks ago. It was Boh, after he stabbed me..."

Irodia turned white and put her hand to her mouth. "Oh dear...I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter," I said in a low voice, casting my eyes to the floor. "I wish he hadn't been the one to give me my first kiss, but I wouldn't care if I never got kissed anyway. Guys in general avoid me, even though I'm the daughter of one of the most famous singers on Earth. Nothing wrong with being single."

"Yumeko," she sighed, sitting back down on the couch, "I'm not going to impose my beliefs on you, but I think everyone deserves to have someone that loves them, that would die for them."

"Mom would die for me," I mumbled.

"I mean a significant other. Someone to kiss you, embrace you." She turned to look at my face and said, "You look like you've never talked about this with your mom before."

"We haven't," I admitted. "She doesn't have the experience to be able to tell me about being with a guy."

"But she has you."

"There was only one time she was ever with a guy, if you could call it that. I'll just say she wasn't a willing participant." I sighed and fidgeted. "She only recently told me about what happened that night. Needless to say, she doesn't trust guys."

Irodia paled even more than she had. "No wonder she's still single at age forty-two."

I shrugged. "It's nice, just living with her and not with a guy in our apartment to bug us. Which is also why I guess having Tyler around is really weird. He's gonna be the first father figure I've had."

"You'll get used to it," she said, brightening. "Living with a man isn't as bad as you think it is. Tyler's not bossy at all. He's very loving."

_I've never met a loving guy before,_ I thought, _although he certainly does appear that way from what I've seen of him..._

"Well, enough of this," Irodia said, standing up. "Let me show you your surprise."

"Where is it?" I asked quickly, jumping up off of the couch.

"Let me show you," she replied, leading me out the front door.

As we stood there in the driveway, Irodia pressed a button on her keychain, and the garage door opened up. The moment I took a look into the garage, I gasped.

"My BIKE!" I screamed in delight, limping up to it. I gave it a huge hug and laughed. "How'd you get my bike here?"

"Nene arranged for it to be shipped here," Irodia said, beaming. "She said she figured it'd be a little easier for you if you had something from back home. All we had to do was get California plates for it. It arrived today while you were at school."

"Oh, thank you!" I hugged it again, then reached for my helmet and pulled it on. "Can I go take a quick spin around the block?"

"Of course! Try not to rush yourself too much though, ok?"

"I won't!" I said, climbing on. I squealed in delight as it rumbled when I started it up. "Tell Aunt Nene I really appreciate it!"

"I will."

Once Irodia stepped out of the way, I drove the motorcycle out of the garage, down the driveway, and into the street. And in moments, I was off, a feeling of euphoria overwhelming me. Finally, a sense of normalcy! Sure, I wasn't in Tokyo anymore, obviously, but I had my bike! And I could get around without having to get a ride from Mikhaila's friends! This was almost the feeling I had when I first got my license; it was almost like getting a new bike all over again.

Finally, a true sense of freedom.

-----

For the first time in what seemed like forever, I was the only one living in the apartment. I had the whole place to myself. I didn't have to share the bedroom with anybody. I wouldn't have to worry about somebody turning on the dishwasher while I was in the shower.

Oh God, how I missed it.

It hadn't even been two full days since Yume left, but I already missed her like hell. This was the first time we'd ever been truly separated. I'd thought she would have a harder time than me, but damn, at the moment, although I had no idea how Yume was doing right now, it seemed like I was the one who was a wreck. Of course, she was my daughter, so maybe this whole separation anxiety thing was to be expected, but it was harder than I thought.

I walked into my bedroom and took a look at Yume's side of the room. The bed still had its sheets on it, and her trophies were still on the shelves in their usual places and the posters were still on the wall, but just about everything else was gone. I sighed and sat on her bed; I swore I could still feel her presence here, like she would run in the door at any second. But everything stayed quiet like the dead.

That is, until I heard a knock at the door.

"Priss, you home?" I heard Nene call out. I walked towards the door and unlocked it.

"Hi," I said as I let her in.

"Irodia called me a little while ago. She said Yumeko's motorcycle arrived today."

"And?" I asked, grinning.

"She said Yumeko freaked out when she saw it." Nene got a huge smile on her face. "She said Yumeko said to 'tell Aunt Nene I appreciate it'. She also said Yumeko misses you a lot."

"I bet," I agreed, sighing. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy on her."

"You didn't have to do that, you know. Send her away, I mean."

"I don't want Genom to be on her ass," I grumbled. "Even before joining the Sabers, she'd never had a normal teenage life. I wanted to give her a crack at it before she lost her childhood completely."

"There's something else you're not telling me," she said, gazing at me intently.

I sighed and sat down on the couch. "As much as I was almost hoping for Boomers to come out again, I never thought Yume would get involved. I was hoping she wouldn't have to."

"I didn't think she'd end up joining the Knight Sabers, either."

"She wasn't supposed to join in our fight. I guess...that I was hoping we'd be able to finish this fight ourselves, and not drag anyone else into it."

"You mean not pass on our burden to the next generation, so to speak?"

"Yeah, if there ever will be a second generation of Knight Sabers."

"There already is one," Nene pointed out. "Your daughter."

I smiled weakly. "I guess so."

"Why don't you mail her a vidletter? I'm sure Yumeko really misses you. If I were her, I'd really want to hear my mother's voice." She smiled. "Heck, maybe I'll send her one too."

"Might as well buy a pack of 'em at the store tomorrow," I quipped. "It'll be used up in a week, tops."

She laughed. "Probably!" She put her hand on my shoulder and added, "Priss, I wouldn't worry about Yumeko too much. I bet she's making lots of friends over there."

"It's not her I'm worried about. I'm wondering if Genom's gonna find out Yume's over in the States."

"Well, Madigan IS the new CEO now..."

"Your point?"

"Sylia said she's not known for entrusting people to do things for her. She said she trusts no one. She'll shoot someone between the eyes if she even SUSPECTS the person is a security risk. If she's going to be on the search for Yumeko, she'll probably be going about it with utmost caution." Nene paused. "Well, that's what Sylia thinks, anyway."

"If that's all true," I sighed, "then she's not gonna mess around, not like Quincy did."

"Nope." Nene paled. "Quincy took his sweet time with Yumeko, but Madigan's probably going to want her out of the way, quick."

_And probably me too,_ I thought. _Yume said Quincy figured out I'm a Knight Saber, and he's known it ever since I fought Largo. But why didn't he do anything back then?_ Of course, I was a world-famous singer right now, and if anything happened, there'd be a huge uproar. So most likely, this Madigan gal was gonna come up with something really sneaky.

I had a feeling all hell was going to break loose soon...but could us Knight Sabers keep Yume out of the line of fire?

-----

How great this was! I only had to catch a ride to school with Mikhaila's friends for one day before my bike arrived. At least I wouldn't have to sit on Xania's lap on the way to school every day till spring. I dunno who woulda gone nuts under those circumstances first: me, Xania for having someone on her lap every day, or Mikhaila for me having my feet on her lap. What was the big deal about having feet on her lap? Clothes were meant to get dirty, weren't they?

On my second day of school, Mikhaila came banging on the door at 6:30, as usual, and I tried to cling to sleep for as long as possible, but after she nearly dragged me out of bed by my hair, I decided to get up. I got dressed, brushed my hair, and ate breakfast while she sat in her room, playing with her make-up. And at seven o'clock sharp, we both headed out the door, when I decided to surprise her.

"I forgot something at the house," I said, walking back up the driveway.

"Hurry up!" Mikhaila snapped as she kept walking. "I'm not gonna wait for you!"

"I didn't say you had to!" I called back as I walked inside. I walked to the garage, opened it up, and pulled on my helmet while climbing on my bike. After starting it up, I let it run for a moment, then drove down the driveway and into the street.

Instead of speeding by Mikhaila like I wanted to do, I decided to drive alongside her; I figured it would drive her nuts.

Which it did.

"When the hell did you get a motorcycle?" she yelled when she saw me driving down the street at the same pace she was walking at.

"It arrived yesterday," I said, grinning. "Want a ride?"

"No way! That thing'll get my clothes all dirty."

"Clothes were made to get dirty."

"For you, maybe, but for me, they're to make me look nice."

"How can those clothes make you look nice when you always look like you've swallowed a bug?"

"Shut up!" she snapped, snorting and turning away.

Behind me, I could hear a car honking. After stopping my bike, I turned around and saw Juliana, Sara, and Xania. Mikhaila ran up to the car and hopped in while I just sat there and waved.

"Rosho?" Xania gasped. "You got a bike?"

"Yep!" I said, lifting my visor.

"Can I ride with you?"

"Hop on!"

"All RIGHT!" She grabbed her backpack, leaped out of the car, and ran up to me, climbing onto the bike behind me. "This thing's awesome!" she exclaimed, wagging her tail in glee.

"I can give you my helmet if you want," I suggested, starting to take it off.

"Nah, I'm ok."

"I guess this means you're not riding with us anymore, Rocío?" Sara asked.

"No, I can get there myself," I said, lowering my visor. "Xania, better hang on."

"Oh, gotcha!"

Once she wrapped her arms around my waist, we took off, leaving the others in the dust.

"So when did you get this thing?" Xania asked after she told me to turn right at the next street.

"I've had it for a little over a year. My mom bought it for me for my sixteenth birthday."

"I dunno much about motorcycles, but I can tell this one's kinda souped up. Got it customized or somethin'?"

"Yeah. Hers is even more powerful than mine is, even though that extra power makes it so the bike has to use up more gas."

"I should ask my mom to get me a bike like this one," she said, laughing. "This thing's great!"

"It's expensive too," I added, laughing with her.

"So did you figure out the homework ok?" she asked as she directed me to turn left on another street.

"Yeah, although that _Tess of the d'Urbervilles_ book is confusing. If that guy ends up seducing her, they should just come out and say it. I hate it when they use all the symbolism in books!"

"No kidding. It's fuckin' annoying, that's what it is."

When we arrived at the school, Xania and I climbed off the bike and headed into the building to our first class. I'd been expecting the metal detector to go off when I headed in, but then remembered that this school didn't have one. _Damn, gotta get used to not hearing that thing,_ I thought.

"What're you doing tonight, Rosho?" Xania asked as she sat down at her desk.

"Uh, I don't have any plans, really. If I get loaded down with homework, then I'll probably be doing that. Why?"

"Well, my mom has a meeting at work tonight. If you got homework, you can come over to my place."

"You'll hafta give me directions."

She took out a piece of paper and scribbled down the directions to her house, then handed me the paper. "That's how to get to my house from Mikhaila's place. How does seven sound?"

"Sounds fine to me."

As Mrs. Hoover walked into the room and told everyone to settle down, I smiled and put the paper in my pocket. This was only my third day here, and already someone had invited me over to their house. I was touched. Maybe this would help the time go by faster.

-----

Gym class at this school wasn't much different than it was back at Kihi. We still had to dress in gym uniforms, and do basic warm-ups before going out and playing whatever game the teacher wanted us to play. Unfortunately, I couldn't really do that much, since I didn't want my stab wounds to reopen again. The teacher still wanted me to dress in the uniform though, so I did that, albeit reluctantly.

I was a little shy about letting the other girls see my fresh wounds and scars, so I walked into the bathroom stall in the locker room, and changed into my uniform there. I still had a little trouble walking without my leg sleeve, though, so I kept it on.

On this day, the teacher had everyone go outside and play volleyball. I knew all that jumping around wouldn't help my wounds any, so I sat out, watching everyone else take faceplants into the sand and stuff. _Wish I could do that right now,_ I thought. I wanted to be able to jump around and get dirty and scraped-up. But if I did that now, it'd just take me longer to recover from the wounds I already had, and I knew that. Unfortunately, Sylia had said the wounds would take a full month to heal up completely. I sighed as I watched the other kids jump around and laugh. Guess it would take a while to become fully 'normal' like the others...

After gym class ended, I had my math class, and then school let out for the day. I walked down to the parking lot, Xania accompanying me, and as we headed towards my motorcycle, we jabbered on about how our day went.

"So should I bring anything to your house when I come over to study?" I asked.

"Nah. Just your homework and yourself. And maybe an empty stomach too," she added with a grin. "Might order pizza."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed, when I turned and saw two guys checking out my motorcycle. I walked up to them and said, "'Scuse me, but I need to get on my bike. Could you get off?"

"This is yours?" the guy that was on my bike asked, laughing. "How could a little girl like you handle a souped-up baby like this?"

"Carefully," I replied dryly. "Get off."

"Mind if we take a spin on it?" the second guy asked, grinning impishly. "We'll bring it back in one piece."

"Get the hell off her bike," Xania warned, eyeing me as I dropped my backpack to the pavement.

"What're you gonna do, Xania? Make us?" the guy on my bike asked, smirking. "Or are ya gonna stick that tail up my ass?"

"I don't need to stick it up your ass to know you're full of shit."

"We think we'll keep this thing for ourselves," the second guy said, patting my bike's back tire. "Ya don't see many bikes like this around here."

"I'll say it one last time. Get off my bike, assholes," I grumbled.

"Heh. You're serious!" he exclaimed, grinning as he walked up to me. "What're you gonna do?"

I casually cracked my knuckles, and looked up at him. And then, using my left leg, I jump-kicked him in the face, making him stumble back and fall down.

"Shit!" he cursed, holding his hand to his bleeding nose. "You broke my nose!"

"WHOA!" Xania exclaimed.

I just stood there, my leg wobbling and stiffening up as my eyes teared up from the pain. "That...hurt!" I said, grinning widely despite the pain.

"You little...!" the first guy said, jumping off my motorcycle.

"When I say get away from my bike, I mean it!" I snapped, punching him in the face. While he reeled from that attack, I grabbed him by the hair, and jerked my knee up as I brought his head down, slamming it into his forehead. As he dropped to the ground, I limped back to Xania, picked up my backpack, and went back to my motorcycle, putting on my helmet.

"Took care o' them," Xania remarked as she climbed on behind me. "Wasn't that the leg you got shot in?"

"Yeah," I said, my leg hurting like hell. "I didn't think I'd be able to do that, but I guess I can."

"You oughta teach me that move sometime," she joked as we drove off. "Might come in handy one of these days!"

"Like today!" I added, laughing.

-----

By the time I got back to the house, Mikhaila and Irodia had already heard about the little scuffle I got into. Mikhaila kept mumbling to herself about what a tomboy I was, while Irodia was more concerned about whether I was ok or not.

"You really should be taking it easy," Irodia said after Mikhaila went to her bedroom. "That goes for your leg, too."

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to kick it that high," I admitted, getting an evil grin on my face. "I even surprised myself."

"Well, since you obviously can, maybe I should set up an appointment with that guy I told you about earlier. You know, the man that I said works at the local gym." She smiled. "I know how much you want to go to the Olympics and all."

I got a thought in my head, but I couldn't say it out loud. So I dragged Irodia outside, out of earshot of Mikhaila, and said, "I'd like to be able to help out my friends back home, too."

She sighed. "You know you're here solely for hiding out from Genom. Nene wants you to stay here until she and the other Knight Sabers get this matter taken care of."

"But how can they do that! They can't change the fact that Genom knows my identity! All they can do is..."

"Is what?"

"Is...to kill Madigan," I mumbled, the realization suddenly having clicked in my head. "But...they have a reputation to maintain, too... I don't know if they'd resort to that, not unless they get desperate."

"Do you think Madigan knows about you?"

"Probably... I'm willing to bet Quincy told her everything before he let her become CEO." And what about Mom? He'd probably told her that she was a Knight Saber, too. Dammit, what was I supposed to do? I was helpless to do anything from over here!

"What's wrong?" Irodia asked as I wiped a tear from my eye.

"I want to go home..." I said, hanging my head. "I don't care if I might die. I just want to help them out! They'll need my help, I'm sure of it!"

"Yumeko," she sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Nene and your mother care too much about you to let you get in harm's way. That's why you're here. And besides, you haven't recovered from your old wounds yet."

"That hasn't stopped me before! I went to Genom Tower even though I'd been stabbed four times, and I did what I went there to do!"

"Yes, but Nene said you had fully expected to die there."

"She...told you that?"

"She's told me more than you think," she sighed. "And in any case, you STILL have those stab wounds, and that back wound. Just take it easy and let them heal up, all right? I'll go and set up that appointment if you want, so you can start to get in shape. When are the Olympics trials, anyway?"

"Mid-May, and the Olympics will be in early August."

Irodia smiled. "Well, I'm sure he can get you in plenty good shape by then."

"What's that smile for?"

"Heh. I'm no therapist, but I know what you can do right now to start to get back into shape, while those wounds are healing up."

"Like what?"

"A good jog. That shouldn't be too bad. The sunshine'll be good for you too. Not to mention it'll help with your leg."

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding. "What time is it?"

She looked at her watch. "Four o'clock. Why?"

"Well...Xania said I could go study at her house with her."

"You don't look like you're too eager to go," she pointed out. I sighed and nodded in agreement.

"I really dunno if I should..."

"Why?"

"I always went over to Michiko's place to study with her. It'll be like I'm betraying her, won't it?"

Irodia approached me and gathered me in a hug. "Yumeko, it won't be betraying her. You have to get on with life, even though she's not here anymore. I know that sounds cold, but wouldn't she say the same thing? I'm sure she'd want you to make new friends and carry on."

I smiled weakly. "Yeah, come to think of it, she probably would..." My hand instinctively reached for the necklace around my neck, and I started to twirl the chain around my finger. "But still...I wish I hadn't let Michiko die..."

"You didn't let her die. Stop being so hard on yourself! It wasn't your fault." I looked away, and she heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry...I forget you're still only seventeen... You've just been through so much for a girl your age..."

"I'm probably the only seventeen-year-old vigilante on Earth..."

"For the moment, you're an ex-vigilante. You're a normal girl now! Enjoy it while you can!" Irodia laughed. "Just try to worry about school and the Olympics, normal stuff!"

It almost seemed like an oxymoron, Irodia referring to worrying about the Olympics as normal. But I guess compared to worrying about whether Mom and the others would be ok without me, it was. But I couldn't help but worry about them. They weren't as young as they used to be, and I'm sure they knew they wouldn't be able to go out and fight whatever Genom threw at them for very much longer. And Irodia calling me an ex-vigilante...that hurt. I still considered myself a Knight Saber, even if I technically was on a leave of absence from the job.

When Irodia went back into the house to set up an appointment for me with that martial arts guy she knew, I sat down on the front stoop and sighed, rubbing my thigh on the spot where I'd been shot. I seriously hoped that that guy could help me get in shape, and help my leg, too. Hell, maybe he could even help me hone my fighting skills, so when I got back to Tokyo, I could help out Mom and the others all the better.

Only problem was...I didn't know when I'd be going back. Irodia said Nene wanted me to stay here until the Knight Sabers had the problem taken care of. But it wasn't just a problem. It was a near-catastrophe they were dealing with! And if this Madigan gal was anything like I was thinking her to be, then they were going to have a real problem on their hands. Quincy wouldn't hand the CEO position to a weak-willed person. I knew that much.

_I know you guys care about me,_ I thought. _But I don't want you to die on me... How can I lead a normal life over here when I know that you're risking your lives to keep them from finding me? I wish I could hear you say that everything will be fine...I wish you could assure me that..._


	3. Mourning

"Rosho!" Xania exclaimed when I showed up at her house at seven sharp. "Glad you decided to come! I just ordered some pizza. Like pepperoni?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I said as she led me inside. "This is a nice place you got."

"Nice to know YOU like it," she said dryly. "'Cause I sure don't. Makes me feel like I'm living back in the Victorian era or somethin'. My mom has the weirdest tastes..."

I merely shrugged as I set my books down on the dining room table and sat down, cracking one of them open. I flipped to the chapter that I was supposed to read over, but before I could start reading, Xania walked out into the living room and turned on the stereo. I almost leaped a mile when the music suddenly blared in my ears. _Geez, and I thought my neighbors cranked THEIR stereo,_ I thought sarcastically.

"What's the music for?" I asked.

"Helps me think," she said, grinning as she sat down next to me and opened her book. "Don't you listen to music when you study?"

"Well, I never really studied much," I said, grinning sheepishly. "'Cept when I studied with my friend at her house. But even then, we never listened to music while we studied."

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You look damn depressed."

"The friend I just mentioned...she was murdered recently."

"Oh!" She sighed and fidgeted in her seat, then leaned to me and gave me a hug. "Rosho, I'm sorry 'bout that. I didn't know."

"That's why I wasn't really planning to come here to begin with, but Irodia got me to come."

"Well, that's understandable," Xania said, noticeably looking uncomfortable. "So what happened to her?"

"...She got stabbed to death." I reached for the necklace around my neck and started twirling it around my finger. "The cops didn't even find her till five days afterwards."

"Aw shit," she said, sighing. "I dunno what I'd do if one of my friends got killed like that. Did they catch the bastard that killed her?"

"He got killed when he tried to escape," I lied, wiping a tear from my eye. Damn Boh...had it really only been a week since that battle on Genom Tower? Seemed so long ago now. And yet...I still had a few of the wounds from that battle, and I could still see that evil grin on Quincy's face as he revealed how he knew that Mom and I were the blue and purple Knight Sabers. I gazed at my right hand, and could almost still see the smoke that came from my beam cannon after I fired the fatal shot at Boh's head. Oh, how I wished I could do that again...it still seemed like he'd gotten off easy. But at least he lingered for a little while after the first shot, even if the second one left him dead in seconds.

"Earth to Rosho," I heard Xania say.

"Huh?" I looked up and saw her waving her hand in front of my face. "S-sorry."

"It's ok," she said. "She just died recently, so I guess you're thinking about it all the time. Hard to concentrate on damn near anything."

"Pretty much," I concurred.

We were interrupted when the front door was thrust open, followed by the sound of a guy's voice. "Yo, Xania!" I heard him call out.

"Hey!" she yelled back, jumping out of her seat. She ran out of the dining room to the front door, and when I followed, I saw her throw her arms around his neck. "What kept ya?"

"Aw, needed to fix up my car," he said. He turned to look at me and said, "Hey, who's your friend here?"

"This is Rosho," she said, gesturing to me. "She just got into town a few days ago. She's got the most awesome motorcycle!"

"That was YOURS?" he asked incredulously, staring at me in disbelief. I nodded shyly.

"Don't ogle it now," Xania teased. "Rosho beat up some sons of bitches after school for not leaving her bike alone."

"Heh, don't worry about me," he said, grinning at me. "I respect ladies and all their property."

"Yes, I know that," Xania quipped, getting a goofy grin on her face. "You respect EVERY little piece of property a girl has..."

I cleared my throat loudly and looked away, blushing. I really didn't need to hear this! "Aw gee, Rosho's hearing all this," she said, looking to me and grinning. "Sorry."

"I've heard worse," I groaned. "You never even introduced him."

"Oh!" She cleared her throat. "This is Greg."

"Hi," Greg said, waving to me.

"Rosho, mind if we go upstairs for a moment?" Xania asked.

"No, go ahead," I said, shaking my head. _I think I know what they're gonna do, though,_ I thought dryly. "What if the pizza arrives while you're up there?"

"The money's on the kitchen table."

"Ok."

After Xania and Greg went upstairs, I heard the door to her bedroom click shut, then I sighed and walked back to the dining room table and sat down, reading over the chapter in my history book that the teacher wanted us to read. Of all times for Xania to bring her boyfriend over...ugh. Made me wish I could return to those peaceful nights of holing up in Michiko's room, helping her with her English while she in turn helped me with my math. _Sure could use her help with those damn logarithms right now,_ I thought as I took out my math book and set it on the table to look at after I was done with the history assignment.

Even though the music from the stereo in the living room was cranked up, from upstairs, I could very distinctly hear a cry of pleasure. I grumbled and tried to ignore it as I tried to concentrate on reading my textbook. When I heard Xania cry out again, though, I stormed over to the stereo, and although my ears were almost bleeding from the noise as it was, I cranked the volume up a little higher. I had to plug my ears as I walked back to the dining room.

A short time later, I managed to hear the doorbell ring. I stood up and walked to the adjacent kitchen, snatched the money off the table, and turned down the stereo before heading to the front door. "Hi," I said to the delivery man.

"Hi there," he said. "$23.59, please."

"Here's twenty-five," I said, handing him the money.

He handed me the pizza box and said, "Have a good night."

"You too," I said as he walked down the walkway towards his car, shutting the door. As I set down the pizza on the kitchen table, I heard somebody walking down the stairs. I turned around and saw Greg heading towards the door. "Uh, pizza just arrived if you want any," I said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, thanks!" he said, opening the box to grab a slice before dashing out the door. After he left, I sighed and walked up the stairs. From the room at the end of the hallway, I could hear some music playing. _Must be Xania's room,_ I thought as I walked up to the door. I was about to knock when suddenly, the door swung open, and a hand grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me in.

"What?" I asked as Xania shut the door. I blushed like crazy when I realized that she was standing there in front of me totally naked. This was also the first time I'd ever seen her without her trademark shades on.

"Rosho..." she panted, a weary grin on her face. She ran her hand through her hair, which was even more messed up than it usually was.

"Ok, why'd you drag me in here?" I inquired, my face turning red.

Xania gently took my hand and placed it over her chest. I could feel her heart pounding like crazy. "This is what he did to me," she said, grinning. "He's gotta be one of the best I've ever had."

"Happy to hear that," I said dryly, pulling my hand away. "Er, pizza just arrived if you want any."

"Oh, great!" she exclaimed, jogging past me and to her bed, next to which was a heap of clothes. "Sex always leaves me hungry."

I groaned as I walked out of the room, closed the door behind me, and walked downstairs. I looked through the cabinets until I could find the one that had the plates in it, then I grabbed one and put two slices of pizza on it. I was almost finished eating the first one when Xania finally came skipping down the stairs. She grabbed a plate and two slices for herself, and sat down at the table next to me, eating as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come," I mumbled to myself as I took a bite of my pizza.

"What do you mean?" Xania asked, her mouth full of pizza.

"If you were planning on doing that with your boyfriend here, why even bother inviting me over?"

"Honestly, I didn't think he was gonna show up. He's always so busy with other shit that we hardly ever get to hang out. But this was a pleasant surprise." She looked up from her pizza and gazed at me for a moment. "Damn, you look like you swallowed a frog. Never had sex with a guy or what?"

"To be honest, no."

"Really? A sexy, pretty girl like you is still a virgin? Get outta here."

"I'm serious. I've never even had a boyfriend."

"So, what, you're a lesbo?"

"NO! There were several rumors at my old school about my friend and me, though."

"Anything to feed those rumors?"

"We were really close. That's all there was to it. It's not like we made out in public or anything. We weren't lovers, we were just close buddies."

"Nothing wrong with a close female friendship," she said, shrugging. "I bet the guys were just jealous that they couldn't have you all to themselves."

"There was one guy who I guess you could've called the school pimp. He was always hitting on me and trying to get me to sleep with him. With as many times as I've probably beaten him up, I'd be surprised if he's still fertile."

Xania leaned back in her chair and laughed. "Now THAT I wish I'd seen!"

I finished off my second slice of pizza and stood up. "So, expecting any more 'guests' tonight?"

She grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Nope."

"That's a relief," I said, heaving a sigh. "I'm not used to hearing those kind of noises, that's all."

"Heh. Don't worry. Next time, I'll be sure to warn you ahead of time!"

Xania and I both snickered as we headed back to the dining room to finally buckle down and get some studying done. This was definitely different from what had happened at Michiko's place when she and I studied there. I guess this would be yet another thing to add to my list of Things To Get Used To. It almost made me wonder if I'd chosen the wrong person to make friends with, but I quickly dispelled that thought from my mind. I knew it was ridiculous to try and find someone who was just like Michiko; it would be impossible to find somebody like her. And besides, maybe that was a good thing, because I didn't want to replace her. Nobody could replace her.

Especially not Xania. But eventually she would get her own spot in my heart, but not the part of it which Michiko occupied. That spot would be forever taken up by the girl who had died to protect me.

-----

My first Sunday at my temporary home included a routine that would take me quite a while to get used to. Back home in Tokyo, on Sundays, I'd sleep in till almost noon, worn out from a Boomer battle or just being a typical sleepy, lazy teenager. But nooo, not here. Here, my Sundays would include yet another thing to add to my list of Things To Get Used To.

Church.

Blah.

"Rocío, are you awake?" I heard Irodia ask. I grudgingly opened my eyes and peered at the clock on my nightstand. It read 7:46 AM.

"Sorta. Why?" I inquired sleepily.

"We have to get ready for church. The service is at ten."

_Damn, Xania was right when she said this family goes to church every Sunday,_ I groaned in my head as I sat up and ran my hand through my tangled hair. I let out a yawn, then fell back onto the bed and closed my eyes. Who was ever up before eight in the morning on Sundays anyway, besides Linna? Apparently, this family was.

"Gotta get up sometime," Irodia teased, abruptly pulling the sheets away from my body. I yelped in surprise and hugged myself, curling up in a ball.

"Hey!" I protested.

"Come on. Mikhaila's in the shower right now. You need to take one after she gets out."

"As long as she doesn't take up all the hot water," I groaned as I sat up and snatched my brush off of the nightstand.

"Do you have any nice clothes you can dress in?"

"If you mean dresses, then no. I think I have a pair of dress pants though."

"If you need a nice shirt, you can borrow one of mine." Irodia looked down at my leg and grew silent. I looked down and saw she was gazing at the scar.

"I don't need your pity," I said softly, looking up at her. "I've learned to walk again, and that's all that matters. I just gotta get back to doing my gymnastics stuff."

Irodia sat down on the bed and put a hand on my shoulder. "These past months...they must have been a living hell for you."

I nodded. "Sure seemed like it."

"Maybe you'll find solace in prayer and church, to help you find the strength to get through what you've been through recently."

"I don't know..." I mumbled. _What god can there be, anyway?_ I thought. _I prayed for Michiko's safe return, and look what He gave me in return for my prayers! What god would allow that?_

"He giveth, and He taketh away," I heard Irodia say, as if she could read my mind.

"If that's so...then why was Michiko taken away?" I said, tears blurring my vision. "No...it wasn't God that took her...it was Boh. That damn Boh..."

"Don't waste your life hating him," Irodia said gently, her hand on mine. "I'm not asking you to do it today, but perhaps over time, you will learn to forgive him."

"Forgive him for what?" I asked, wiping away my tears. "He took my best friend away from me! How am I supposed to forgive him for that?"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started to cry right then and there, and accepted Irodia's hug of comfort. _Look at me. I've become a twig,_ I thought as I cried. _Anything that comes my way ends up breaking me in half. Whatever happened to the bend-but-not-break Yumeko that I used to be? I wish I could be more like Mom..._ But was that really what I wanted? I knew what Mom did with her feelings, even if she thought I couldn't see it. She'd keep up a strong front, to try and be strong for me. But I knew she was stuffing her feelings inside, and probably cried when I wasn't around. And it was funny to think of her like that – I'd rarely seen her cry with my own eyes.

"Yumeko," Irodia whispered, "I know you don't want to come to church with us, but just try it out this once, and see what you think. And if you don't like it, you don't have to come with us. Ok?"

"Are you sure?" I asked, looking up at her. She was the Christian advocate of this family, was she really serious about this?

"Yes, I'm sure. I can't make you heal any faster than you're able to. And I can't force you to find comfort in church. If you find it in music, or whatever, that's fine."

"I figure as long as I'm here, I may as well participate in these family activities," I said. "I mean, this is what 'normal' families do, right?"

"Not all," she admitted, smiling, "but many, yes. Oh, and if you're not comfortable with church, it may help you to know that afterwards, after we get changed back into more casual clothing, we usually pack a lunch and go to the park and relax for a while. That sound like fun?"

"Sure," I said, although her description of what we'd be doing after church almost seemed stereotypical. It almost seemed like a description of the 'perfect' family, although I knew there was no such thing. Church, followed by an afternoon at the park, followed by...what? Dinner at the dining room table, talking about 'normal' happenings?

Ugh. This wouldn't be the first time, or the last, that the thought crossed my mind that being 'normal' can be quite boring. I hoped that life over here wouldn't be so monotonous that I'd want to puke, just to stir things up a bit. But then again, I had Xania to help me keep things interesting. I could never tell what she was going to do next.

-----

After everyone got dressed in their Sunday best, we all piled into the car and headed to the church. I sighed and gazed out the window as I scratched my scalp. Despite my protests, Irodia had insisted that I put my hair up in a bun. I hated having my hair in a bun. I was more comfortable with my hair in a ponytail or loose braid. _Damn, I'm becoming Mikhaila now,_ I thought. _Worrying about my hair and shit...yeesh!_

"You didn't bring a Bible?" Mikhaila asked, raising an eyebrow as I turned to look at her. I looked down and saw she was cradling hers in her lap.

"I don't own one. So sue me," I muttered, gazing out the window again.

"That's alright," Irodia said. "You can read off of mine if you want."

"Rocío," Tyler said as we turned onto another street, "have you ever been to a Baptist church?"

"Uh, I'm not really much of a churchgoer," I admitted. "Why?"

"Well, I know that most Mexicans are Roman Catholic. Catholic churches are all decked out in all their finery, but Baptist churches keep it simple. I hope you'll be able to adjust to it."

_Assuming I'm a Mexican...I'm gonna strangle him,_ I thought, trying to keep a straight face. _A church is a church, why's he describing it to me? Oh well..._

After we pulled up into the parking lot of the church, I saw that although the service wasn't gonna start for another fifteen minutes, it was crammed full of cars. I turned towards the church and saw a steady stream of people filing into it. I sighed as we all got out of the car and headed inside.

"How long does a typical service last?" I asked Irodia.

"An hour, sometimes more," she replied.

"Oh, fun," I groaned. I hoped that maybe I'd fall asleep or something. I had a feeling this was going to remind me of one of those damn school lectures.

"Rosho!" I heard a familiar voice call out behind me. I turned around and saw a black-haired girl standing there, in a dark blue dress and black shoes, with her hair combed back.

"X...Xania?"

"Heh. Yeah," she said, grinning sheepishly.

"I almost didn't recognize you!"

"I know. You're used to seeing me with my shades, eh?"

"Not to mention with your hair sticking out in every direction."

"My mom makes me put mousse in it to keep it like this," she groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You look funny in a dress," I said, laughing. "And where's your tail?"

"It's wrapped around my hips, under the dress. My mom keeps going on and on about how she doesn't want people gawking at us because of me having a tail. It gets cramped after a while," she sighed. "Damn service hasn't begun, and it already hurts."

"I can imagine."

"Come now, we need to get inside," a frumpy-looking woman suddenly said, walking up to Xania.

"Uh, Mom, this is Rosho," Xania said, gesturing to me.

"Rosho?" The woman eyed me suspiciously.

"My real name is Rocío Monterrey," I said quickly, "but Xania calls me Rosho."

"You're the girl that's staying with Mikhaila, right?"

"Yes, I am." _Why the hell is she eyeballing me like that?_ I thought as the woman continued to frown at me. "Xania's been helping me get around at school."

"Really?" She eyed Xania, as if she couldn't believe it. "Well, I hope you don't pick up on her habits. Assuming you don't already have habits similar to hers."

"W-what?"

"I know about you Mexican girls and your reputations. Always thinking you're better than anyone else, and holding back our educational system! Not to mention sleeping with anything that moves!"

"Excuse me, ma'am," I said dryly, trying to keep my temper in check, "but I am nothing like that. Just ask Irodia or Xania. They'll tell you." I winced when my stomach decided to start hurting.

"Oh, really?"

"Rosho's right," Xania said, very obviously pissed off. "She gets into fights, but as far as morals, she's still morally pure."

"Oh, thank you," I groaned sarcastically.

"Fights?" Xania's foster mom inquired. She noticed the cut near my hairline and said, "I suppose so, judging from that cut."

"Show her the scar on your leg, Rosho!" Xania encouraged.

"I'd rather not," I mumbled.

"What scar?" the woman inquired.

"Just from when my dad shot me a while back," I lied. "I came from a broken home, just like Xania did. So I don't think you're in the position to judge me on anything!"

She stood up straight, as if she'd been slapped. "Why, you arrogant little—"

"Bitch?" I finished. "That's what you were going to say, right? Go on and call me a bitch. You wouldn't be the first to call me that."

Xania was killing herself to keep herself from laughing out loud. But when a snicker escaped from her, her foster mom spun around on her. "Come now. The service is going to start. I'm not going to waste any more time on this girl, and neither are you." She grabbed Xania's hand and dragged her to her seat, Xania giving me a thumbs-up and a wink as she and her mom disappeared into the crowd.

"Whoa. I've never seen anyone talk to Xania's foster mom like that," Mikhaila remarked as she walked up next to me.

"I don't let anyone belittle me, and that goes for her too," I muttered under my breath.

"Well, the service is about to start," Irodia said, leading us to our seats. "And Rocío?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep your temper in check, ok?" She chuckled.

"I WAS keeping it in check. If I wasn't, she'd be in the hospital."

I heard Tyler let out a laugh behind me. "Feisty! Gotta love 'er for it!"

My only response was to let out a laugh myself as everyone sat down and waited for the minister to step up to the podium and deliver whatever sermon he decided to deliver. This whole church thing actually might work out, after all! The occasional brouhaha between me and Xania's mom would sure liven the whole experience up, that's for sure!

-----

After the service – during which I'd very nearly fallen asleep – we all went back to the house to change into some more comfortable clothes. I decided that I wasn't in the mood to put up with any remarks from Mikhaila regarding my scars, so I forwent wearing shorts and wore some jeans instead. And after letting my hair down and putting on a normal shirt, Irodia packed us all a lunch and we piled into the car again, and headed to the local park.

"It's nice here," I remarked, gazing around as I sat on the grass underneath a tree. _Too bad there's no cherry blossom trees though_, I thought. _Otherwise Michiko would just love it here._ I sighed at the thought of my best friend. I felt so guilty, being able to relax in the sunshine when she couldn't. I knew life went on, but...it still hurt so much.

"Rocío?" Irodia asked. "Are you ok?"

"Not really," I mumbled as I took the sandwich that she offered me. "Michiko would've loved this place, that's all..."

"Oh," she said, sighing. She wrapped one arm around me and gave me a squeeze. "It's all right."

"Who's Michiko?" Mikhaila inquired, biting into her sandwich.

"A friend of mine," I said, twirling her necklace around my finger. "You won't be meeting her."

"Aw, too bad," she groaned dryly.

I frowned and turned to look at a group of kids who were playing soccer on a nearby field. Oh, how I wished I could've been like them at this moment. Naïve, carefree, not having to worry about what the future held for them. _I guess it's funny how when you're a kid, you just wanna grow up, but when you're grown up, you just wanna be a kid again,_ I thought as I watched them laugh and play. _Want that independence, yet be free of responsibility. Kinda like how when I was little, I always imagined I was a Knight Saber, and when I got older, I actually became one. And now that all of this bullshit has gone on, I wish I could erase the events of the past five or six months. I wish I could...I wish I could go back to not having to worry about my life, not having to hide out like this..._

"Rocío, your food is gonna get ants in it if you don't eat it," I heard Tyler laugh, snapping me out of my own little world.

"What? Oh," I said quickly, picking up my sandwich again.

"What's with you, anyway?" Mikhaila inquired, giving me the evil eye. "You sure zone out a lot. What's up with that?"

"None of your damn business," I snapped, shoving a forkful of macaroni salad in my mouth. "I'm sure you zone out too, while you're putting on that make-up. Probably imagining how many boyfriends you could've landed if you didn't have such a snobbish attitude."

"You..." she growled. "What about YOU? Have YOU ever had a boyfriend?"

"Nope," I said nonchalantly.

"Probably because you don't bother prettying yourself up," she said, snorting.

"I don't want a boyfriend anyway. I'm busy enough as it is, trying to adjust to living here, and not to mention to get myself back in shape."

"Shape? For what?"

"I'm a gymnast. And as soon as these damn wounds heal up..." I let my voice trail off, and I set my plate down and stood up, walking over to a clear area. I got into a stance, and prepared to try out a flip I hadn't done in a long time. _Let's see if this works,_ I thought as I took a breath. I threw myself backwards, and threw my legs into the air as I tried out an aerial flip. And when I landed, I stumbled a step or two, but for the most part, I had done it almost perfectly.

"Heh...hehe...I did it!" I exclaimed to myself, only to grab my stomach in pain. "Damn..." My back started to protest the move as well, and that wound started to hurt in turn.

"That was great!" Tyler said, clapping.

"A gymnast, eh?" Mikhaila said, raising an eyebrow. "Must be in the peewee league or somethin', with a flip that bad."

"Peewee?" I repeated sourly. I marched over to where she sat, and glared down at her, clenching my hands into fists as the pain in my stomach and back intensified. "Y'know, if I weren't restraining myself right now, I would've punched you across the face. But you're not worth my time. Listening to your insults and belittling is the very least of my worries right now. Like I said, I have some wounds I'm recovering from, and so naturally, I can't do the flips as well as I used to. I DARE you to repeat that comment in a few months, and see if you don't end up with your foot in your mouth." I grinned evilly and crossed my arms over my chest. "Besides, I doubt you can do those flips yourself. Why don't you show me what you can do?"

"Why the hell would I?"

"Ohhh, that's right. It would mess up your precious clothes," I replied dryly. "Oh, and it would just RUIN your hair too, wouldn't it? Can't mess up that precious image of yours, can we? The image of a vain, haughty, self-absorbed, stuck-up bitch who would think the world is ending if she can't find her damn hair spray! You need to learn to grow up."

"Me? Grow up?" She stood up and looked me in the face, frowning. "I'd say you're the one who needs to learn to grow up. Resorting to insults is a bit childish, isn't it?"

"Oh? So you'd rather have us fight with fists than with words?" I cracked my knuckles. "Fine by me. Wanna make the first move?"

"You're...serious!" she gasped, looking pale.

"At my last school, I had a reputation for getting into fights. And I didn't fight dirty. I didn't use brass knuckles or knives or whatnot. I just used my fists. And I never lost a single fight. You really sure you wanna turn this fight physical?"

She snorted, trying not to look freaked out. "And how many times did you get suspended for those fights, eh?"

I grinned. "Doesn't matter. Oh, and yes, I HAVE fought girls before, so don't think I'd go easy on you just because you're a girl. Besides, it looks like you wouldn't be much fun to fight, anyway. I know how you HATE to exert yourself, so it'd probably only take a punch or two to take you down."

"Y'know...I think I'll echo your previous statement about saying that you're not worth my time!" Mikhaila backed off and sat back down, and I stood there, smiling smugly. My first victory over Miss Haughty.

"I guess somebody had to tell her that," Tyler said to Irodia, "and of all people, it was Rocío. Why am I not surprised?"

Irodia heaved a sigh and stood up, not looking too pleased. "I really wish you two wouldn't fight!" she said, looking at Mikhaila, then me.

"I was just trying out a flip. She was the one making smart-ass comments," I said, shrugging. "Do you have any aspirin with you, by the way? My stomach is hurting again."

"Rocío, no, I don't have any with me. And even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you. I don't want you getting addicted to painkillers. Sometimes, you just have to put up with the pain. You brought it upon yourself when you did that flip, anyway."

"Maybe I did..." I admitted, then frowned as I added, "so should I just live with the pain of losing Michiko? Because I brought that upon myself too! It's my fault she's gone! So should I live with that because I brought it upon myself?"

"T...that's not what I meant," she said, suddenly looking guilty for saying anything in the first place. "That wasn't your fault..."

"I'm sorry..." I mumbled, wiping the tears from my eyes as I turned away. "I'm just not in a very good mood right now..."

"No, no, it's ok. I understand why you wouldn't be," she said, putting her hands on my shoulders. She turned me around so I would face her. "Listen...life is pain. We all know that. But that doesn't mean we can't lessen it or ease its burden on us. If you ever want to talk..."

"You've said that already," I said, my voice hoarse. "But...it's so hard."

"How is it hard?"

"I've never been an open person. And that's the least of it! I just...nobody can possibly relate to what I've gone through... My friends back home could... Michiko couldn't relate, but she still cared nonetheless. She was...she was always there to help me out. And...and I can't get her back..." I hugged Irodia and started to cry. "I don't know what...what I'm supposed to do..."

"What happened to that Michiko girl?" Mikhaila cut in. "What're you talking about?"

"Mikhaila, shush," Tyler said, pulling her back.

"Rocío," Irodia whispered, stroking my hair as I cried on her shoulder, "I know you loved Michiko. And I'm sure she loved you too. Nothing can change that. Hang on to your memories of her, for you're the only one that has them. Try not to remember the way she died, but how she lived."

"I try...but it hurts all the more..." I cried. Michiko had always been such a gentle, kind, caring person. She had always put others before herself. She was the type of person who could light up your world with a smile. And knowing that, it was all the more anguishing to know that she was dead, that I would never see that smile again, except in pictures and in my memories.

"I know it hurts," she said softly. "I know I've said this before, but if you ever need to cry, just cry. Don't hold it in, because you'll just be hurting yourself more. If you bottle your emotions up, they'll end up exploding sooner or later." She lifted up my face so she could look me in the eye. "If you want, I can take you out for some ice cream right now."

"Ice cream?" What was she talking about ice cream for?

"To soothe your throat. All of that crying must've made it raw." She smiled and wiped a stray tear from my cheek. "Is that ok?"

I nodded slowly and forced a weak smile. "Sure."

"I know it's not much, but it's a start. And I'll make sure Mikhaila doesn't bug you about all of this later, ok? I know she can be a pain."

"Hey!" Mikhaila protested, making Irodia laugh.

"Make that a pushover," she joked. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Y-yeah, I feel better already," I said. Just having someone to be able to hug made me feel tons better.

"Tyler, can you make a stop by Baskin Robbins?" she asked, turning to Tyler, who was putting the leftovers back in the cooler. "I'd like us to have a cool treat."

"Fine by me!" he said, grinning.

"It'll be all right," Irodia said, smiling softly at me. "I know this isn't home, but you're not alone, ok? Just remember that."

"I...I will. Thanks, Irodia," I said, following her, Mikhaila, and Tyler back to the car.

Irodia was so much more...well, motherly than I was used to. Mom had her own mothering techniques, and Irodia had hers, but they were so drastically different that my head was practically spinning. It was nice to hear Irodia's words of comfort, but right now, I felt I could really use a hug from Mom. Man, did I miss her! And the way Irodia acted reminded me so much of Nene, it made me miss her all the more. And Linna and Sylia...I missed them so much too. Their leadership had helped me keep my sanity back home, whenever I thought I would never walk normally again, and whenever I wondered why I was bothering on keeping on going when Genom would probably end up catching up with me anyway.

My mom, and my 'aunts'...I missed them all so much that it hurt. I really wished I could see them right at this moment. In Tokyo, where I was fighting Boomers and trying to keep up in school, I felt normal, even though my life would probably be considered far from it. And here in the suburbs of Sacramento, as Rocío Monterrey, a 'foster child', I felt like a fish out of water, even though life here was supposedly way more normal than my life in Tokyo. I knew nobody here.

But I was determined to live out this thing called a normal life...even if the first step towards doing so was going out for an ice cream cone.

-----

A week, a whole week. Had it already been that long since my daughter left? Didn't seem like it. So strange that either time flies by really fast, or it goes really slow. At the moment, it seemed like both were happening at the same time. On one hand, it seemed like I had just gotten back from the airport, bidding Yume farewell...for now. But on the other hand, it seemed like I'd already spent a lifetime without her. Funny how time can mess with your head like that...

I'm sure Yume knew it, even if I didn't really show it, but...I was hurting for her friend Michiko too. I'd known her since she and Yume were seven years old, after all. She'd hung out here at our apartment all the time, setting up blanket tents in the living room and telling scary stories by flashlight. Not exactly a campfire, but hey, they were kids, after all.

Now that Yume was off in California trying to live like a teenager should, I felt the need to go to her friend's grave for her. I owed it to her, as well as Michiko. She'd want me to do it, I'm sure. But it wasn't just for the two of them. Michiko was...almost like another daughter to me. It thrilled me to know that Yume could have someone to talk to, to hang out with, to just talk about girl stuff. And to see the look on my daughter's face when she found out Michiko was murdered...it broke my heart. No girl should ever have to feel that pain. I'd felt it many a time, so I knew what it was like, and it was the last thing that I would wish upon her.

I wished I could give her a hug right now. I'm sure she could've used one.

On this afternoon, I went to the local flower shop and picked up a bouquet of lilacs and daisies, then drove over to Yokohama Memorial Cemetery, where Michiko's grave was. After I dismounted my bike, I started to walk down the path towards the cluster of cherry blossom trees where Michiko laid. I sighed and smirked to myself as I remembered when she had given me a cherry blossom branch for my birthday. "_They're the prettiest at this time of year,_" she'd said.

Once I reached Michiko's grave, I knelt down and placed the bouquet in front of her headstone and sighed. "Hey there," I said. "I'm sure you already know this, but...Yume's really hurting for you. I'm pretty sure she's been blaming herself for what's gone on, but I know it's not her fault. And it's not yours, either. You wanted to walk home for once, and..." I chuckled. "With the way Yume drives sometimes, I can't blame ya. I guess she really does take after me..."

I ran my hand through my hair and set my bike helmet down. "Of all the ways for a person to go... You were still young, you shouldn't have had to die. Especially not like that." I sighed, trying not to let emotion overwhelm me too much. "I think Yume said she paid you a visit before she went off to Genom Tower. So I guess I'm just repeating a lot of the stuff she already told you, but I gotta get it out, anyway. I just wanted to let you know...that you're in my thoughts all the time. And I know you're in Yume's, too."

I wiped a tear from my eye and grabbed my bike helmet and stood up, heaving a sigh. I hated cemeteries, and this one was no exception. Aw hell, who LIKES cemeteries to begin with, anyway?

I turned to walk back to my bike when I saw a teary-eyed woman standing there, a bouquet of flowers cradled in her arms.

"A...Adrienne," I said.

"H-hello, Priss," she said in a shaky voice. "I see you were visiting with Michiko."

"Yeah..."

Adrienne walked past me and knelt down in front of Michiko's headstone, setting her bouquet of flowers with the one I had just set there. "My daughter...my little angel..."

"I'll leave you alone," I said, starting to walk away, when Adrienne stopped me.

"Wait," she said, standing up and grabbing me by the shoulder. I turned around to face her. "Can we talk?"

"About what?" I asked, immediately subconsciously punching myself on the arm. I shouldn't have needed to ask what...

"About...Michiko and Yumeko, and..."

I smiled gently. "That's fine. Where to?"

"Can we go to your place and talk? I'd...feel a little more comfortable there. I can't stand being in my apartment knowing that one of the bedrooms stand unused, stand empty and devoid of any life." She started to tremble as she wiped away some fresh tears. "I'm sorry if I'm a bit emotional, Priss. I can't help it."

"You just lost your kid. I almost lost mine myself. I can kinda relate." I motioned towards Michiko's grave and said, "You came to visit, right? So visit. I'll wait for ya in the parking lot."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. It'll be a few minutes."

"Take all the time you want," I said softly as I turned and walked down the path towards the parking lot. I knew I had no business listening in on a mother-daughter conversation...even if only one of them was able to speak. Hell, if I was talking to Yume about something personal, I wouldn't want anyone to be listening in, either. I could remember my own mom dragging me into her room to talk about personal things that nobody else knew about, and we'd be cracking each other up for hours over boys and puberty and...general girl stuff.

And years later, after I'd become a mom myself, I repeated those experiences with Yume, and we laughed just the same as my mom and I had. But now...Adrienne and Michiko couldn't share those experiences anymore. I couldn't imagine what the hell that was like, to lose a child and not be able to share those light moments any longer. I'd been on the opposite end of it myself – I lost my mom, as well as my dad, when the second Kanto quake occurred, when I was only twelve. But...in a way, I guess I'd suffered the same loss as Adrienne. My daughter was thousands of miles away, and the only safe way to talk to her was through a vidletter, a letter I had to remind myself to record tonight.

Aw hell, what was I thinking? My situation was way different from Adrienne's. She'd lost her daughter forever, and would never be able to hold her or really talk to her. The only way to talk to her was to sit there at her grave and talk to the headstone. And me, my daughter was 'merely' off in another country, and I could mail her vidletters or talk to her whenever I wanted, with the knowledge that she was safe now.

I only wished Adrienne could've had that knowledge.

I stood there in the parking lot, leaning against my bike, while I tossed my helmet in the air over and over, a thousand thoughts similar to those going through my head. _Michiko, your life hadn't even begun, but it got snuffed out anyway,_ I thought, frowning to myself. _Life's a bitch, I know, but you shouldn't have had to learn that the hard way. If I knew you'd be dragged into this, I would've done more to protect you... I'm sorry, kiddo. But trust me, if I know Yume like I think I do, she'll do enough living for the both of you._

I heard footsteps nearby, and when I turned my head to look, I saw Adrienne approaching me, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "I'm sorry I took so long," she apologized, her voice choking.

"No, it's all right," I assured her. "She's your daughter."

"If you're going to ask if I need a ride, I'll have to say no. I have a car. I'll just follow you."

"Sure you'll be ok?" I asked as I pulled on my helmet and climbed on my bike. She nodded.

"I'll be fine," she said.

"Where's Kenji, by the way?"

"He's at work. He's been throwing himself into his work, to keep himself distracted, I suppose. I'm starting to worry about him."

I sighed. So typical of men to do that. "Trust me, I would know. That's not exactly the best thing for him to do, but...I guess for now, it's all he CAN do."

She walked to her car and unlocked the door. "I'll be right behind you."

"Ok."

I started up my motorcycle and drove out of the cemetery, Adrienne following close behind in her car. I'd never gotten very close to her, but having had Yume as her daughter's best friend, I guess it'd only be natural for her to lean on me for support.

-----

After Adrienne and I arrived at my apartment, I brewed a pot of coffee for both of us. It'd probably help to calm both our nerves.

"Thank you," she said when she took the steaming cup from me. "It's nice to have someone to talk to."

"You haven't talked with Kenji about it?" I asked, sitting down next to her. "He's your husband and Michiko's dad. You should've talked."

"Like I was saying earlier, he's thrown himself at his job. I barely see him at all these days. He wakes up and heads off to his job before I'm even out of bed, and by the time he gets home, he's too tired to want to do anything but sleep. But sometimes, in the middle of the night...I'll wake up and find him sitting in Michiko's room, crying." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "He loved her so much..."

"She was his little girl. Of course he misses her. And she's your girl, too."

"I think he's forgotten that he's not the only one who's mourning for her."

"He's far from the only one," I concurred, leaning back on the couch.

"I've been wondering something, Priss..." she said, taking a sip from her cup.

"What is it?"

"I haven't heard from Yumeko in a little while. About a week, week and a half, I guess. Where is she?"

I sighed. "She's not here anymore."

"W...where did she go?"

"...I can't say. She's just on a little vacation of sorts, to try and recover from everything that's happened. I don't know when she'll be back."

"Lucky her," Adrienne groaned, running a hand through her short hair. "I need a vacation myself. She's lucky she can just get away and forget about it."

"I seriously doubt she's forgotten about it," I said, getting annoyed. "Michiko was her best friend. I've had friends die, and believe me, it HURTS. It hurts for a long-ass time..." I sighed. "And besides, there's all of the other bullshit that's happened too. Like her getting injured when the convention center exploded, and when she got stabbed."

Adrienne started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" I inquired.

"When Michiko was missing, Yumeko came over to my apartment, wondering if she was just sick."

"She told me that..." I sighed.

"I was certain it was the Knight Sabers that had done something to her, and...Yumeko didn't take that very well. She bawled me out for thinking it was them, and listed off all these reasons why it couldn't have been them. I think she feels the same way about that group that Michiko did..."

"More than you know," I said, smirking to myself. Oh, if only Adrienne knew just how right she was. But of course, Yume wasn't the only person she knew who was a Knight Saber... She was talking to one right now.

"I remember when I met you and Yumeko for the first time," she said, smiling at the memory.

"So do I," I chuckled.

"I came to pick up Michiko after school; it was her first day. I stepped out of the car, and after looking around for a minute or so, I saw her with Yumeko, talking to you. She really looked excited to actually be talking to her idol."

"What irony that she became best friends with the daughter of her idol, too," I said, cracking a smile. "I'd say it was fate, but Yume doesn't believe in it."

"Neither did Michiko. She just thought it was dumb luck. But anyway, I walked over to you and Yumeko, and looked down at Michiko, and said 'You made a friend already, huh?' And she just said, 'Yeah! This is Yumeko, and look who's her mom!' And she—"

"Pointed at me," I finished, chuckling. "Yeah, I know. It's always neat to see my littlest fans' faces light up when they see me in person."

"It's funny how even though she got to be friends with you and Yumeko, she'd still ask you to sign an album whenever it came out," she chuckled.

"Just the fan in her," I said, returning the chuckle. "Maybe she thought my autograph would be worth millions one of these days."

"Oh, no. She wouldn't have parted with those even if she had a gun to her head. She really cherished your CDs, and I think that's part of why Yumeko took those. She knew Michiko cared about them, and maybe she just wanted to keep them safe for her."

"Sounds like something Yume would do," I agreed.

"When you took Yumeko with you on your '49-'50 tour, Michiko got so lonely. She'd just mope around the house all day, saying 'I want Yumeko here.' And not just for help with her English homework, either," she added, laughing.

"Hell, she still helps me with MINE," I joked. "She was pretty much my interpreter for that whole damn tour, the poor kid."

"Amazing how quick little kids can pick up a language, huh?"

"No kidding. When I came back from my second tour, Yume was only five years old, but she was more fluent in English than I was." I shook my head in mock disbelief and smirked. "I guess I'm a little better at it than I was back then, but only this much better." I held up two of my fingers about a half-inch apart and snickered.

"You just need to travel more," Adrienne joked as she finished off her cup of coffee. "You need to be immersed in the language to truly learn it."

I shrugged and sipped my coffee. "I only need Japanese. That's good enough for me. And if my English is all twisted, like it tends to get, then others'll just have to live with it." I chuckled to myself again.

"Oh, we have, for the nineteen years since your debut album came out."

I started to crack up. "Exactly!"

"Well," she said, standing up, "I'm really glad I got to spend time with you, Priss. This has really helped, to just TALK about it."

"Oh, wait," I said, motioning for her to stay there. I walked into my bedroom and sifted through the desk drawers. After I found what I was looking for, I walked back into the living room and handed it to Adrienne. "Here."

"A vidletter?" she said, confused.

"Yeah. I figure you and Kenji would want to say something to Yume. It's blank, so you can record your letter on there. I'll mail it out myself for ya. And besides..."

"Besides what?"

"You being Michiko's mom, I'm sure Yume would want a letter from you. It's one thing to get a letter from me, but you're the mother of her best friend."

She nodded in understanding. "I'll be sure to try and record it tonight. I'll return it to you when I get it recorded. And hopefully Kenji will take a time-out and put in his say, too."

"He better, or I'll have to coerce him into doing so," I said, getting an evil grin on my face as I slammed my fist into the open palm of my hand.

"I don't think you'll have to resort to that," she laughed as I led her to the door. "Thank you, Priss. You've really helped me. I hope we can do this more often."

"No problem," I said as I opened the door for her. "Anytime, Adrienne."

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she left.

After I closed the door behind her, I walked back to the couch and flopped down on it. I had never seen Adrienne like this before. Normally, she was kinda stuck-up, always badmouthing people or groups she didn't care for, like the Knight Sabers. But now that her daughter was gone, she was completely changed. She was a total wreck, in need of support, and even forgetting her hate for whoever it was she hated. I guess a bitch-slap by reality will do that to ya.

I would know.


	4. Worlds apart

I laid back under a tree in the park, folding my arms behind my head as I gazed up at the sky and watched the puffs of clouds drift by. With no one around, I could finally truly relax, just relax, let loose, enjoy myself. I could hear the birds chirping up in the tree, and I smiled as I listened to them.

Until I heard a loud crack of thunder.

I bolted up, and suddenly the park had disappeared. It had been replaced by an eerie darkness, and I was the only one in it. I looked around, and saw the trees, the grass, the people, everything was gone.

"What the hell's going on?" I demanded as I stood up. "What IS this?"

"Your demise," I heard an eerily familiar voice say. I spun around to face the direction of its origin, and there was a black-haired boy standing there, his hair tied back in a ponytail.

"B...Boh..." I growled. "You're dead."

"Oh, am I?" he asked curtly, striding towards me. "Boomers don't die. You know that. They merely get too damaged to function. I can come back anytime, you know. All they have to do is repair the damage you did when you blasted me. And then we can continue our little game."

"The game was over when I killed you!" I retorted.

"No, it's not," he said, shaking his head, starting to smirk. "You're hiding out, aren't you? Hence the game is still in play. It's merely been stalled for the moment, because Genom doesn't know where you are. But they will find out, and you know that."

"And how are you so confident they will?" I asked, smirking. "As far as they're concerned, Yumeko Asagiri has disappeared off the face of the planet."

"True, but the girl by that name is still around," he replied, grinning. "Your name may have changed, but you're still here. And they will find you."

"Tell them 'good luck' for me, 'cause they'll never figure out where I am."

"Oh, is that so?" Boh folded his arms over his chest. "Well, they could just force it out of your mother, or Miss Yamazaki."

"They...they wouldn't hurt my mom, or Linna!" I snapped. "I'm the one Genom's after! And besides, they'd sooner die than let Genom find me."

"If that is true, then this game will be taking quite an interesting turn. But then again..."

"Then again what?" I inquired, getting unnerved at the look on Boh's face.

"If your mother or Miss Yamazaki is hurt, or killed, they know you'll come out of hiding. Because you'll be so enraged that you let them get hurt that you'd never forgive yourself if you didn't do anything." He smirked again. "Am I right?"

I clenched my hands into fists and gritted my teeth. Boh couldn't be right...

"You're lying through your teeth," I growled, though the possibility of Genom going after my mom or my friends was too great to ignore.

"Yumeko, have I ever lied to you?" he asked, grinning as he got that annoying glint in his eye.

"Shut the hell up! Get out of here!"

"Out? You're the one who let me in, remember?"

"You forced yourself in, when you fused with my hardsuit!" I snapped. "Not exactly an invitation!"

"Perhaps. But I'm here to stay. You know what they say, right? That a person is always kept alive as long as they're in your memories?"

"Shut UP!"

"Yucchan..." I heard a girl that I recognized as Michiko say. I gasped as she stepped into my view from behind Boh.

"M...Michiko!" I gasped. "Boh, don't you bring her into this any more than you already have! She's suffered enough!"

"Perhaps, but you haven't," he said, smirking as he gestured in Michiko's direction. Suddenly, she screamed and faded from my view.

"You...you son of a BITCH!" I screamed.

"One by one, you will see your friends die just like that. All for you. How does it feel to know that your friends will be sacrificing themselves for you? Will it pacify you to know that it will be because of you that their lives will have ended prematurely?"

"Shut up!"

"Why should I? It's true, is it not? Their deaths will hang on your conscience, and do you really want that? Do you, Yumeko? Is Michiko's death not enough weight on your conscience?"

"One more word about Michiko, and I'm gonna send you back to hell where you belong!" I yelled.

"You needn't worry about that, Yumeko. That's the least of your worries. You'll be joining her soon enough." He turned his back on me, then turned his head towards me and did that salute thing he always did. "Adieu."

"Get back here, Boh! I'm not done with you yet!"

"You've said that before, and I'll say this again as well: You never even started."

"Boh, get your ass back here! I mean it!"

He just kept on walking, and eventually faded from my sight.

"BOH!"

Everything turned even blacker than it already was, and the next thing I knew, I snapped my eyes open again, only to find myself laying down. I looked around; I was in my bedroom again. _The son of a bitch,_ I thought as I sat up and ran my hand through my sweat-drenched hair to get it out of my face. What he had said about Mom or the others possibly being targets...I was hoping it wasn't true. But if Genom got desperate enough to find me...then it was entirely possible they'd go after my Knight Saber friends to force the answer out of them. _They can't be targets, they can't be,_ I kept thinking as I sighed and leaned back on the pillow. _I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to them..._

Just before I was going to close my eyes, I turned my head and looked at the clock on the nightstand. In big red numbers, it said 5:31 AM. I sighed to myself; no use in going back to sleep now. I crawled out of bed, and after making it, I brushed my hair and tied it back in a ponytail, then pulled on my leg sleeve and got dressed in some exercise clothes. Maybe a jog around the block would clear my head.

After eating a bagel for breakfast, I put my shoes on and headed out the door, starting out with a brisk walk, then working my way up to a jog. I could see that the sun was already rising, and I smiled; I hardly ever got up early enough to see the sun rise. I'd seen lots of sunsets, but this sunrise had a beauty all its own. The sky was colored a pale yellow and blue, with the clouds tinted a shade of pink. I wished I had my camera with me.

I still didn't know this neighborhood too well, so I confined my jog to this street. After jogging around the block about three or four times, my leg started pleading for a rest, so at the end of the block, I stopped and walked slowly back to the house. Once I was inside, I pulled off my shoes and took a look at the clock. Six o'clock...still early enough to have time to take a shower and have some peace and quiet before Mikhaila would wake everybody in the house up. I walked to my bedroom and grabbed some regular clothes before walking into the bathroom to take a shower.

_I wonder what Linna would say if she found out I was up this early,_ I thought with a smile as I let the hot water beat over me. _That jog really helped me wake up. I can kinda see why she always takes a morning jog now._ I saw another positive thing about waking up at this ungodly hour – that little jog I took had loosened up my leg, even though it had started to ache. _Hey, this just might help get my leg back in shape. I should try to do this every day._

After I got out of the shower, I dried myself off, blow-dried my hair, and got dressed. Once I walked out, I saw Mikhaila standing there, not looking too pleased.

"Other people here need to take a shower too," she snapped.

"I've never seen you take one in the morning. You're usually too busy playing with your make-up," I quipped.

"Go fig. The one morning I DO decide to take one, I'm held up by YOU," she grumbled as she walked past me and slammed the door in my face.

_I'm guessing she's not a morning person,_ I joked to myself. While she was in the shower, I decided to look through my homework and make sure I had it all done, then sat down and watched some TV. When I checked for the time again, I saw it was almost seven o'clock. I stood up and walked outside and to my waiting motorcycle, and after starting it up and letting it run for a minute, I took off towards Xania's house.

When I got there, she was sitting on her porch, looking bored out of her mind. "Hey!" I yelled to her.

"Rosho!" she exclaimed, her face brightening. She jumped to her feet and ran to me, her tail flipping back and forth. "You're early!"

"I know," I said, lifting up my visor. "I got up a little earlier and took a jog, and I figured I'd get here before I killed too much time." Xania laughed.

"You don't seem like the type of person who'd get up at the break of dawn," she said, grinning.

"I'm not. I try to sleep as much as humanly possible, but unfortunately, school beckons us," I groaned. "I feel like ditching. What about you?"

"I'll ditch with ya," she said. "Just seems like the kind of day that says for us NOT to go to school."

"I know what you mean," I agreed, laughing.

"Here. Gimme your backpack."

I handed it to her, and she grabbed hers as well and went inside. A minute later, she reappeared. "I put them in my closet."

"Ok. So, where should we go?"

She thought for a moment. "Well...aw shit, I'm usually not up this damn early! I dunno what's open right now and what's not!"

"Neither do I. I've only been here a little over a week," I joked. "Well, what about the park? We could sit there and relax for a little while before heading over to the mall or somethin'."

"I dunno when the last time I went to the park was. But, as long as we're over there, can we do one thing?"

"What is it?"

She grinned shyly and adjusted her shades. "Well...on our way there, could we buy a loaf of bread? So we can feed the crumbs to the geese?"

I laughed. I didn't think Xania would be interested in that sort of thing. "Sure. Sounds good to me. Can you tell me where the nearest store is?"

She climbed on the bike behind me and said, "Yeah. I'll tell ya where to go."

-----

After Xania bought us a loaf of bread, we drove over to the park, and after climbing off my bike, we walked by the playground, and it wasn't long before a flock of geese came into sight, picking at the grass with their beaks. I smiled as I walked towards them, making sure not to step in any of the little presents that they had left scattered all over.

Xania opened the loaf of bread and took out a piece, tearing it up into crumbs. "C'mere, little goose," she said, crouching down as she held out a piece. Two or three geese waddled towards her, and after she looked at all of them for a few seconds, held it out again. Before I knew it, one of them had snatched it out of her hand and was swallowing it.

"What, you've never done this before?" Xania asked as she looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "You look surprised."

I shook my head. "Never have," I admitted.

She handed a piece of bread to me. "Here. Try it," she said.

"You sure they won't bite?"

"Nah, they wo-- OW!" She leaped a mile in surprise when a goose behind her snapped at her tail. "You little bastard!" she snapped.

I started laughing. "Won't bite, eh?" I joked.

Xania rubbed her tail and winced, managing a grin. "Ok, they might if you're not careful..."

I stared at the piece of bread in my hand, then slowly tore the bread into pieces. I saw a goose waddle towards me, and I smiled as I crouched down on my knees, my leg feeling slightly stiff from the movement. "Hey there," I said. "Want some bread?" I held out a piece of bread to it, and it waddled a little closer. And before I could react, it snapped at me, and when I looked at my hand, the piece of bread had disappeared.

I laughed. "Hey, that was cool!"

Xania grinned and shook her head in disbelief as she tossed some pieces to some of the other geese. I started doing the same, and then, all the geese started swarming around us. When I walked to Xania to get a few more pieces of bread, I looked behind me and saw some of the geese following in hot pursuit, squawking their protests.

"Hey, I need to get some more, ok?" I joked, laughing as I grabbed a few more pieces. I tore those pieces up and tossed them at the geese, which then swarmed around them and gobbled them right up.

"Oh no you don't," Xania joked when she saw a goose sneak up behind her. She stuck her tail straight up in the air. "You ain't doin' that twice, buster!" She looked at me and grinned. "Remind me never to dangle my tail around geese."

"I will," I laughed.

It wasn't long before the entire loaf of bread was gone. And when our little feathered friends realized that, they swarmed around us, practically pleading for more.

"Methinks we should run," Xania advised, half-joking as she took a step back.

"I have to agree," I concurred, grinning as the geese looked up at me, beaks open. "We'll have to get through these guys first though."

"Easily done."

Xania abruptly grabbed my hand and broke into a run, and we both laughed as the geese tried to chase us as we ran down the path and back to my motorcycle, trying to avoid stepping in goose poop the whole way. By the time we did get to my bike, we were both laughing so hard, we were holding our sides.

"Damn geese can be so fun!" Xania laughed, almost doubled over in laughter. All I could do was nod in agreement and snicker as I put on my helmet.

"Where should we go now? We still have the whole day to kill," I said.

She looked at me and thought for a moment. "Back to the grocery store."

"Why?"

"To get some aspirin for ya. You don't look too good."

"You're not too far off," I admitted, wincing as I put a hand to my stomach, which had started to throb. I took off my helmet and ran a hand through my hair, sighing.

"What's wrong with it anyway?" Xania asked. "You've been complainin' about it since I met you."

I looked around to make sure nobody else was around, then said in a low voice, "This is why," and lifted up my shirt enough so that Xania could see the marks on my stomach.

"Holy shit," she whispered, her eyes wide in shock as she bent down to get a closer look. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"I got stabbed, a little over three weeks ago."

She traced her finger over the long scar and asked, "How'd you get this?"

I sighed and gently shoved her hand away. "Don't touch it, please."

"S...sorry."

"It's alright, but the memory of how I got that one is still a little too fresh..." I pulled my shirt down.

"Your dad must be a real bastard to do all of this shit to ya, Rosho," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "No wonder you had to come here to avoid 'im. The fuckin' son of a bitch..." She slammed her fist into the open palm of her hand, seething.

"It doesn't matter anymore," I said, darting my eyes away. "It happened a while ago..."

"It don't matter how long ago it happened! It still happened, didn't it? You can't change that! And obviously, that's not all that happened to ya!" She pointed at the scar on my shoulder.

"No, it's not. Take a look at my back."

I turned around, and pointed at a spot on my upper back, near my right shoulder. Xania pulled the neck of the shirt down slightly, and I could practically feel her grimace.

"That one looks like it just healed up," she groaned. "Looks fresh."

"It still hurts a little bit," I said, rubbing the spot. "I guess the tissue is still healing up. How big is the scar? I can't look at it too well."

"I'd say a good three inches long, half-inch wide," she said, grimacing.

"That big?" _Why am I acting so surprised?_ I thought as Xania nodded. _After how much blood I lost from that wound, I shouldn't be._

"That cut looks like it healed up, too," she said, putting her finger on the spot on my forehead where I'd been cut.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Shit, girl, talk about battle scars..."

"I have my fair share of 'em, on the outside as well as the inside," I said, sighing. "What about you?"

"I wasn't abused like you were. I guess if I have any, they're all in here." She pounded her chest with her fist.

"Xania, I'm...I'm sorry."

"For what? It all happened years ago."

"But still, for a little kid to have a childhood like that..."

"I don't want to bring it up!" she snapped, making me jump in surprise. "It was a fuckin' hellhole, and I'm glad I left it behind! I never want to go back there again! Not in my mind, not EVER! I left that place behind when I was ten years old, and I'm NOT goin' back!" Xania was so mad that her entire body was shaking now.

"I...can relate..." I said slowly.

"The fuckin' Social Services people were tellin' me, 'Everything's gonna be ok now,' but is it ok! IS it! I may be out of there, but..." She took off her shades and wiped a tear from her eye, then put them back on. "Son of a..."

"If you need to cry—" I started to say.

"No," she said stubbornly. "I'm not cryin'. NEVER am I gonna shed a tear for THEM! If I'm ever gonna be cryin' over somethin', it's gonna be somethin' worth cryin' over!"

_It's ok to cry for your lost childhood, Xania,_ I thought. _Really, it is..._

"You don't need to act tough around me," I said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright."

"Who says I'm ACTIN' tough?" she protested.

"I know how this stuff can tear you apart!" I yelled. "I used to be like that too! But a lot of shit has gone down, and I just can't do the act anymore! I can't keep pretending everything's ok when it's NOT ok! Dammit, I can relate!"

"I know that," Xania said, her voice hoarse as she looked at me with a look that said she really did know. "Look, Rosho...let's make a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"I won't ask about your past if you don't ask about mine. That way, neither of us'll go off on each other like we did just now."

"You weren't going off," I said, shaking my head.

"What do you call it then?" she inquired.

"Venting. Letting it out."

She snorted. "My foster mom keeps sayin' that God doesn't give ya any more than you can handle. I guess we've both proven that guy wrong, eh?"

I smirked. "Well, we're still standing, aren't we?"

Xania returned the smirk. "I guess. So, deal?"

"Deal."

We shook hands, then I put on my helmet again and climbed on my bike. "So where should we go now, Xania?"

"I said earlier we should go to the store for somethin' for your stomach, remember?"

"Oh, right," I chuckled, my stomach incidentally starting to hurt again. "But what about afterwards? Where should we go afterwards?"

She shrugged as she climbed on behind me. "Well, where do YOU wanna go?"

"Hmm...I haven't been to the mall yet. Maybe you could show me around there."

"Ok! I'll tell you how to get there once we get that aspirin for ya."

"Speaking of which..."

"Huh?"

"Don't hold onto me so tight," I half-joked. "You're hurting me."

"Oh! Sorry."

As we drove off and headed towards the grocery store, I couldn't help but think about how Xania reacted when her life with her real parents was brought up, and about how she said she wasn't physically abused, but that all her scars were inside. They weren't visible like mine were, but I saw a little bit of them in her temper outburst. It made me wonder just what her old lifestyle had been like prior to being put with her foster mom. But I had agreed that if I didn't ask about her past, then she wouldn't ask about mine. Oh well...it'd be that much easier to keep my real life a secret from her, although I'm sure Xania was dying to know about my past almost as much as I wanted to know about hers.

_If I ever did tell her the truth about my past,_ I thought, _would she even believe me? C'mon, me, a Knight Saber, AND daughter of one of the most famous singers on the face of the Earth? Hollywood would have a field day with my life, I'm sure._

And of course, there was still the matter of the dream I had had... Was it a warning, a premonition of sorts? Or was I just worrying too much, like I was wont to do? Aw hell...what was I thinking? If I was ever worrying too much, especially lately, then it was for good reason. First, about somebody watching me behind my back, and then when Michiko disappeared... I guess it didn't hurt to worry 'too' much anymore.

-----

"So, you gonna be mailing them out tomorrow?" I asked Nene as we walked down the hallway towards Adrienne's apartment.

"Yeah," she said, nodding.

"How long is it gonna take for 'em to get to Yume?"

"I'm mailing them express, so about four or five days, maybe a week."

"Did Linna and Sylia record some vidletters too?"

"Yep!" Nene patted her purse on the side. "Got 'em in here. Did you record yours?"

"Yeah, here." I handed it to her, and she slipped it into her purse as we reached the door to the apartment. I knocked on the door, and after a moment, Adrienne answered.

"Hi, Priss," she said, bowing. I nodded my head in response.

"Did you get it recorded?" I asked.

"I did. Come in." She beckoned me and Nene to enter, so we did, and sat down on the couch while she went to her bedroom. After a moment, she came back with the vidletter in her hand. Handing it to me, she looked at Nene and asked, "You're Miss Romanova, right?"

"Yes," Nene said, nodding.

"I'm sorry, I'm not very good with names."

"That's alright. We haven't seen each other very much." She sighed. "How have you been?"

"I've seen better days," Adrienne sighed.

"Kenji still at work or what?" I inquired. "I don't see him around." She sighed and nodded. "Did he record somethin' on the letter too?"

"He did, after I pestered him about a hundred times."

I sighed. "Why does that not surprise me?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nene was looking at a shelf on the wall. When I looked as well, I saw what she was looking at: a photo of Michiko and Yume together, taken when they were about thirteen. I smiled and said, "They really loved each other..."

"They did," Nene agreed, nodding solemnly as she cast her eyes to the floor. "They were like sisters."

"I miss them both," Adrienne said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Michiko's gone, but...I know Yumeko wouldn't let her memory die."

"You won't either," I said. "And I promise I won't."

"We should go," Nene suddenly said, standing up. "I think we've overstayed our welcome."

"No, no, it's alright," Adrienne said, looking at her.

"No, we really have to go," she insisted, eyeing me as she tapped her pager, which she had set to vibrate instead of beep. I noticed mine was vibrating too, and stood up quickly.

"Nene's right," I quickly said as Nene and I headed to the door.

"O...ok," Adrienne said, looking a bit confused at how we were acting. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Tell Kenji hi for me," I said before leaving the apartment. Once we were out in the hallway, heading towards the elevator, I grumbled under my breath and turned off the pager. "Another rogue Boomer..."

"Nothing we can't handle," Nene said, grinning.

"I've rarely seen you kill one by yourself," I quipped as we reached the elevator.

"Hey!" she protested as I pressed the 'down' button. "It's not my fault!"

"Need to learn to fight, that's all."

Nene and I stepped into the elevator, but right as the elevator doors were about to close, I saw a large hand grab one of them and force it open. I stifled a grimace as I recognized the man that stepped into the elevator with us.

"Hello, Priss," Tsubasa said, smirking. "Where you rushin' off to?"

"Out," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nene looked from me to Tsubasa, then back to me. "You know this guy?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Hi, cutie-pie," he said, eyeing Nene and grinning. "Are you a friend of my bitch here? You look too gentle for that."

"I'm not your bitch," I snapped. I looked at the screen above the door, and it said we were at the third floor now. Damn, this thing could never go fast enough!

"Oh, really?" He took a step closer to the redhead next to me, who was looking more than a bit nervous, and grinned again. "Maybe I could make your friend here my bitch."

I didn't even have to think; I snatched my gun out of my jacket, cocked it, and shoved the barrel in his face. "Don't you dare touch her," I warned.

"G-gee, thanks Priss," Nene said, backing up as far into the corner as she could go.

Once the elevator reached the first floor, the moment the door opened, Nene darted out while I kept my gun aimed at Tsubasa. "Get going," I whispered to her. "I'll catch up."

"Ok," she said, nodding and running out the front doors of the apartment building.

"You wouldn't shoot me," Tsubasa said, smirking.

"Just try me," I snapped as I stepped out of the elevator, my gun still aimed between the bastard's eyes. "If you EVER touch ANY of my friends, I swear the only way you'll be able to get around again is in a wheelchair." He started to step out of the elevator to come after me, but I shoved the barrel in his face. "Get back in there, you rotten son of a bitch," I said through gritted teeth.

"Priss, Priss," he said, sighing as he shook his head in mock disbelief. "Still playing the role of the tough girl. But I know you're not all that tough." He grinned evilly.

"Just because I haven't killed anyone doesn't mean I'm not tough," I retorted. "But they do say there's a first time for everything. May as well start with you." And with that, I slapped him across the face with my gun, turned around, and walked out of the building.

"HEY!" he yelled, running after me. "Get back here!"

I frowned, turned around to face him, and kicked him in the stomach, then punched him in the face. "I've had ENOUGH of your bullshit!" I yelled. "Stay the hell away from me and my friends if you want to keep the use of your legs, you hear me?"

Suddenly, he regained his ground and grabbed me by my jacket, then jerked me forward so that he was practically in my face. "And you listen to ME, you little whore," he hissed. "If you think you can ever take down Tsubasa, you're a fucking moron."

"Just shut your trap," I said, bringing my knee up between his legs. He almost instantly crumpled to the ground, and as I walked away, I mumbled, "Not as tough as you used to be. Gotten soft?"

"You...little..." he groaned, struggling to get to his feet.

"Or, maybe you're finally starting to act your age," I spat, giving him the finger as I walked away.

"You ok?" a wide-eyed Nene asked when I walked up to my bike and put on my helmet.

"I thought I told you to get going," I said flatly as I climbed onto my bike and started it up.

"Why? We can't go out without you anyway," she replied in a low voice as we both drove out of the parking lot and down the street.

"Know what kind of Boomers we're fighting this time?" I asked, trying to get my mind off of that bastard Tsubasa.

"Nope. I guess we'll find out when we get there." She paused. "Who was that guy, anyway?"

"Y'know the kid that kept hitting on Yume?"

"Yeah. Masahiro."

"That was his dad, Tsubasa."

Nene grimaced. "I see where Masahiro got his attitude from. You seem like you've known him a while."

"Hey, when you've got a boy hitting on your daughter, you're bound to know his closest relatives sooner or later," I said dryly, speeding ahead of her.

_That fucking bastard Tsubasa,_ I kept repeating in my head over and over as Nene and I approached the Lady 633 building. _What does he think he's trying to do! Even after all these years, he hasn't changed at all. You'd think he'd learn to lay off after what Yume and I have done, but...aw hell, this is Tsubasa here! And look at who his son is! As if THEY could ever change!_

_-----_

"What kept you?" Linna asked as Nene and I started to change into our innerwear.

"Uh, we ran into some trouble," Nene said quickly as she pulled off her shirt. "Priss took care of him, though."

"Do I really want to know?" she asked dryly. I just kept silent as I pulled off the last of my clothes and yanked my innerwear on. That damn Tsubasa...he'd commented that I was still playing the role of the tough one, but he should've been the one to talk. He was at least five years older than I was, which meant he was pushing fifty. But at least I made him eat his words. He'd had it coming for a while.

"How many Boomers today, Sylia?" I asked after I donned my hardsuit, picking up my helmet.

"Three. Two of them are 55Cs, and the third is a 33B," she replied coolly.

I raised an eyebrow. That didn't seem normal to me...normally they were all the same type. "Heh, maybe Madigan's trying to make it more fun for us," I quipped.

"Fun, she says," Nene groaned, rolling her eyes before she put on her helmet. "You just want an excuse to use your Motoslave."

"Nah, that'd be Yume you'd be referring to."

"You sure? She only used hers twice."

"Yeah, but remember the first time she tried it out?"

She nodded as we all climbed into the equipment van. "I do. And afterwards, she was saying she was never gonna use it again because it was too hard to handle." She laughed.

"Apparently it wasn't the last time though," Linna sighed, forcing a weak smile as she sat down. I sighed and nodded in agreement. Hell, that situation Yume'd gotten into practically warranted using her Motoslave, so even though she hadn't had much experience fighting with the thing, if I was in that situation, I would've used it too.

The ride over to where the Boomers were on the rampage was one of the quietest ones I could recall. It was only our second battle since Yume had gone to the States, but...that wasn't it. I had a feeling I wasn't the only one who had a feeling that something was amiss about this latest outing. Maybe it was just because there were two types of Boomers out, but I could smell a rat here. And it wasn't Madigan.

"I'll take care o' the 33B," I said, climbing onto my motorcycle as we were just about at our destination.

"I'm not complaining," Nene said, laughing nervously.

"What, don't you want the fighting experience?" I asked dryly.

"Against one of THOSE? No thanks."

"Priss, you ok?" Linna asked, lifting up her visor. "You're acting kinda funny, though it might be just me."

"Funny? How?" I inquired.

"You just seem like something is bothering you, that's all."

"Nothing's bothering me. I just wanna get out there and kick a few Boomer's asses."

Linna shrugged. "If you say so."

"Priss," Nene said over the comm, "is this about—"

"Don't bring it up, ok?" I snapped. "Just forget about it." How strange...Nene acted like she hadn't been spooked at all by Tsubasa, despite it was her first time meeting him. Maybe she was just acting like she was tough, but of course, we all knew better than to believe that charade.

"Get ready," Sylia warned us.

"Roger," Linna and I said as the sides of the van opened up. As the hydraulic booms deployed so that I was hanging over the street on my bike, Sylia and Nene climbed to the top of the van, bracing themselves. And then, I heard Sylia's call.

"Knight Sabers, go!"

Right then, my motorcycle and I got dropped onto the street, and after revving it up, I sped ahead towards the looming Boomers. I was practically licking my lips in anticipation for this battle, the adrenaline was flowing so strongly through my veins.

"Nene, try not to get in the way, all right?" I asked dryly.

"I won't," she replied with much the same tone. "Besides, I'm your only link to Yumeko. Even if you WANTED it to happen, I wouldn't get in the way."

"Boomers at one o'clock!" Linna yelled, leaping off her motorcycle and making it transform into its Motoroid form.

"Save the 33B for me!" I answered. "That thing's ass is mine!"

"Priss, stay on guard," Sylia ordered over the comm.

"Gotcha."

It wasn't long before the familiar form of the BU-33B appeared in my sights. I couldn't resist letting a feral grin spread across my face as I brought up Auto Motoslave Form on my HUD, and Typhoon III transformed into its Motoslave form.

"Heh. Someone came out to play," it quipped when it saw me.

"You're not gonna be laughing for long," I said as I activated Typhoon III's jumpjets and jetted towards it. The Boomer charged at me, but got blasted through the chest for its trouble. While it stumbled back from that attack, I ran up to it and grabbed its arms.

"Still laughing?" I inquired as I yanked on its arms, trying to rip them off.

"Damn you!" it cursed, firing its heat cannon at me. The force slammed into me, almost making me lose my grip on the Boomer's arms, but thanks to the Motoslave's armor, I wasn't even fazed.

"Too bad you caught me in a bad mood today," I growled as I managed to rip the Boomer's left arm off, fluids gushing out of the stump and spilling to the ground. "'Cause I feel like ripping something to shreds right now. I guess you'll be the one to have that honor."

"Lousy armored bitch..." the Boomer sneered, taking a swing at me. I leaped to the side to avoid the punch, then returned the favor, sending my Motoslave's fist right through the thing's chest and out the back, sending more orange fluids gushing out in the process. After withdrawing my fist, I opened up the front of the Motoslave and fired a few needles through the Boomer's head. While it stumbled back from that attack, trying to rip out the needles with its one remaining hand, I slapped an S-Mine on its chest and jetted up to the roof of a nearby building, and got a bird's-eye view of the resulting explosion.

"Anybody need any help?" I asked over the comm.

"Not me," Linna said. "Just killed one of the 55Cs."

"The other one is finished," Sylia replied. "Let's get out of here."

"Where's Nene?" I inquired.

"I'm w-with Sylia," Nene said, voice shaking. "I'm ok, just had a close call with one of the Boomers, that's all."

I was about to reply when I heard the noise of a helicopter nearby. I looked up and saw one hovering above the battle scene. "The hell is up with that chopper?" I wondered aloud, frowning as I scanned it. I detected three people in the helicopter, and one of them was looking out. After zooming in on who it was, I couldn't hide my grimace of disgust.

Madigan.

_She was watching us?_ I thought, grimacing again when I saw her smirk. _What's she up to?_

If I had a bone to pick with anyone from Genom, it was that lavender-haired bitch. She was the one who sent out Boh to kill my daughter, and just might've had something to do with when that group of Boomers kidnapped Yume when she snuck out to help us a couple months ago. _She's dead. She is SO dead,_ I thought, taking aim with my Motoslave's biggest guns.

"Priss!" Sylia yelled over the comm.

"What?" I snapped, locking onto the helicopter.

"Let her go."

"Why the hell should I? She's put us all through hell, especially Yume!"

"It's not worth it. Let her go."

"Damn it, Sylia..." I kept my aim on the helicopter, resisting the pressing urge to shoot that helicopter down right then and there. Why didn't she want me to shoot Madigan down? After what she had done?

"Priss, let her go. That's an order," she said sternly.

After a long moment, I sighed and dropped my arms to the sides, frowning as I watched the helicopter fly away. "Shit..." I muttered to myself.

"Let's get back to the van," Sylia said. A moment later, I saw her, Nene, and Linna all jet towards the van, and I reluctantly followed, but not before taking another look at the fleeing helicopter.

_You got lucky,_ I thought, frowning again. _You won't be lucky next time though, not with me around. If you think you can get away with what you've done to my daughter and her friend, you're sadly mistaken._

_-----_

After we got back to Sylia's place, we all went up to her penthouse to unwind for a little bit before heading home. But after what I had seen tonight, it was hard for me to do much of anything in terms of relaxing. What the hell was Madigan up to, watching us fight? And why didn't Sylia want me to shoot her down? Didn't she want her to pay for what she'd done?

"Tell me why I shouldn't have shot her down right then and there," I demanded. "You know she would have deserved it!"

"You're right, she does," Sylia admitted blatantly.

"Then why did you make me let her go?"

"The Knight Sabers have a reputation to maintain," she said slowly. "Besides Genom publicly accusing us of interfering with the summit in March, shooting down the woman who has only been CEO of Genom for two weeks would not help matters any."

"C'mon! People know it wasn't us!"

"But Genom is really good in the propaganda business," Nene mumbled to herself, nursing her cup of coffee. "And Sylia's right. We're still trying to get our image back, and shooting her down would only add to our troubles."

"Nene and Sylia have a point," Linna sighed, running her hand through her hair. "But I do understand why you wanted to shoot her down. I wish I could too, actually."

"What, has everyone turned against me?" I remarked dryly.

"No," Sylia said. "You have your reasons for wanting Madigan dead, and I can't change your reasoning. But I do have my own reasons for why she should stay alive."

"And what would those be?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest, annoyed.

"Well, like I said, the Knight Sabers are trying to rebuild their image, and killing Madigan would not help matters any right now. And besides, at the moment, she does not pose a threat."

"At the moment," I repeated. "What about three months from now, or six? Dammit, Yume's life is at stake here! I just want to protect her!"

"I know that. But killing Madigan right now would not help keep her safe. On the contrary, it might endanger Yumeko even more."

"How so?" Linna asked.

"Madigan likely has deep connections inside Genom. It's entirely possible there are contingency plans in place in the event of her untimely death."

"So¼you're saying she's like a catalyst?" I asked.

"Exactly. Things may seem dire right now, but if anything happens to Madigan, we could be setting off something ten times the magnitude. We're not prepared for something like that."

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Nene asked, wide-eyed. "Just because Madigan isn't after US at the moment doesn't mean that she's not plotting some way to find Yumeko."

"She is not plotting anything," Sylia replied. "I've had Fargo give me regular updates on Genom's activities, and there is nothing going on that we should be suspicious about."

"Maybe we should let Yumeko know about this," Linna said. "So she can be on her guard."

"No," I said firmly. "She's not gonna know about any of this."

"Why not?" She looked surprised at how I was acting.

"Yume's in California for a reason, you know!"

"Priss is right," Sylia said. "Yumeko is in Sacramento to lead a normal life, not to be worried about anything going on over here. She needs her rest right now. And besides, after everything that has happened, I don't think she needs another reminder of why she's over there, especially after losing Michiko."

"She's probably beating herself up over Michiko's death as it is," I mumbled, gazing out the window at the Tokyo skyline. "Letting her know about this situation isn't gonna help her."

Nene sighed and stood up, grabbing her purse. "I'm beat. I'm gonna head home now if that's ok."

"That's fine," Sylia replied. She looked at Linna and me and said, "You two may go too if you want."

"All right," Linna said, standing up and stretching.

After I grabbed my jacket and put it on, I headed out the door and walked down the hallway towards the stairs. As I started to head down the stairs, Linna ran up next to me.

"Priss," she said as we walked down the stairs together, "I can't blame you for being upset about Sylia having you let Madigan go, but...she does have a point."

"I know," I sighed, scratching the side of my head wearily. "I just want Yume to be safe!"

"And I don't blame you for that."

"Damn, why does this have to be so complicated!" I grumbled. "Madigan really deserves her ass to be kicked at the least, but if she dies..."

"Sylia only said that it's possible there are contingency plans in place. It doesn't mean that there ARE any in place right now. But...knowing her, she won't want us to take any chances."

"What's so funny?" I inquired when Linna started to smirk.

"Are you SURE nothing's wrong?" she asked, still smirking. "You took down that 33B awfully fast. You can tell me if something happened today, you know."

"If you really wanna know...Nene and I ran into Tsubasa today."

"Tsubasa?"

"Masahiro's dad."

"Oh. What did he do?"

"The usual bullshit," I grumbled. "He started to hit on Nene, and I told him to leave us alone, but he didn't, so I taught him a little lesson."

"Would this 'lesson' involve a knee to the groin?" she asked, grinning. I nodded. "I still have the feeling there's something else going on."

"Tsubasa's a bastard that's been bugging me and Yume for a while. Nothing else to say," I said as we reached the parking garage. As I pulled on my helmet, I asked, "So what did you put on your vidletter to Yume? Just wondering."

Linna thought for a moment as she unlocked the door to her car. "Well, I asked her what life is like over in Sacramento, and I also told her that she should let her wounds heal completely before she starts training for the Olympic trials. I also said that she shouldn't worry about what the Knight Sabers are doing. I mentioned that we've been doing this since 2031, and we know what we're doing, and that we can take care of ourselves." She looked at me intently and said, "What now?"

"The trials...they're in May, right?"

"Yeah. In Osaka. Why?" Right after she said that, she went pale and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh God...she'll have to come back here for those!"

"Yeah," I said in a low voice, casting my eyes to the ground. "And she's already said she's going to use her real name and not the one Nene gave her."

"And I doubt she'd play for anyone else besides Team Japan..." she sighed. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of that until just now..."

"Hopefully all of this'll be over with by then." I climbed onto my motorcycle and started it up. "I'll make sure of it."

"We will," Linna said firmly. "Priss, we're not going to let anything happen to Yumeko. I promise that."

"I know nothing's gonna happen to her. So help me God, I'll die before she gets involved in this any more," I swore.

Linna's only response as I drove away was to nod solemnly.

All of us knew this would be a bitch to pull off, to make sure Genom or Madigan would cease to be a threat while ensuring Yume's safety. _Damn, Sylia, I hope you know how you're gonna have us pull this off,_ I thought. _I know you know Yume can't hide forever. And Madigan's not gonna be patient and just wait till May for her to show up, either. Who's gonna make the first move, her or us?_


	5. Letters from home

As I crawled out of bed at a snail's pace one morning, I thought for a moment and counted back the days since I had arrived here in Sacramento. One, two...almost three weeks. Eighteen days, to be exact. Had I really been here for that long already? I shook my head in disbelief as I got dressed in some exercise clothes and went out for my morning jog. Ever since that morning I'd gone for an early jog to try to forget about that dream I'd had with Boh in it, I'd woken up at 5:30 every morning to take a jog. As much as I'd really wanted to cling to sleep, the desire to get my leg to full strength was greater.

How long had it been since that damned summit? Six months now? Where the hell did the time go between then and now?

"Damn," I mumbled to myself as I jogged around the block. "What DID happen to all that time?"

It was funny that the time had passed so fast. While I was slaving away during my seemingly endless therapy sessions with Linna, I'd thought that it was taking forever for me to learn to walk again. I couldn't wait to shed that brace and take just a few steps on my own, to prove to the world that I wasn't a cripple, that I would persevere and go to the Olympics, even if I died trying.

And now that I had gotten rid of the brace, it seemed like the burden of all that time had just disappeared, been lifted from my shoulders. Sure, I still walked with a limp, and by now, I had come to accept that it would probably be that way for the rest of my life, but as long as I could do everything that I could before I was shot, then that was fine with me. Hell, at times I hardly noticed it myself. But maybe that was due to the fact that I was used to walking with a limp by now. When was the last time I walked without a limp, walked without a huge scar on each side of my leg to remind me of what happened?

When I'd helped Mom and Nene fight the first Boomer at the summit, before the second one came and crashed what party we'd had going.

_That Boomer...that damn Boomer,_ I thought as I jogged back into the house and into the bathroom to take a nice, hot shower. _You've scarred me for life, literally and figuratively, and I can't change that. But...at least you got your just desserts, even if it was five months after the fact._ I closed my eyes, and smirked as I remembered ripping the Black Box out of its stomach, throwing it to the ground, and crushing it beneath my foot.

As sadistic as it sounded, despite the reasoning behind my going to Genom Tower to begin with, the battle there was almost...fun! I hardly understood it myself, why I thought that way. Maybe it was the fact that I was proving to everyone that I could fight a battle on my own, or maybe it was that damn addictive adrenaline rush that I got during that fight. Or was it the fact that I had broken into Genom Tower and killed Quincy, albeit a fake Quincy?

Or...maybe it was because I had killed Boh and avenged Michiko.

"Eh? What's with that smile?" Mikhaila inquired as I stepped out of the bathroom after my shower, dressed in fresh clothes.

"I feel like I could put my fist through a wall," I said cheerfully, grinning as I walked to my room, leaving Mikhaila with a stunned look on her face. She looked freaked out at how casually I had said that.

But it was true. Right now, I felt almost immortal, like I could take on the world. But inside, I knew that wasn't true, that I only had a certain time on this planet before I would depart and let the next generation of human beings and Boomers and whatnot do what they would. Hell, that was probably part of Mom's reasoning behind having me come here to begin with – that she didn't want me to die. She wanted me to have a normal teenage life, or at least as normal a life as I could etch out.

Another reminder that people were mortal was the fact that I had lost my best friend, and not to mention my near-fatal battle at the summit, as well as the one at Genom Tower. The scars I had reminded me every day of that, but sometimes they just didn't stop me from feeling like the world could throw everything it had at me, and I would walk away unscathed.

"Damn, Mom, this must be why you never gave up," I said to myself as I drove to pick up Xania at her house. "Even if you nearly get killed, you still feel unbeatable, despite the scars! I get it now!" I guess I was a true Asagiri girl...

After I picked up Xania and took her to school with me, that general mood, that feeling of invincibility combined with the knowledge of my mortality, stayed with me throughout the day. I didn't know why I felt that strange mood, but I did, and as I felt that way, I could almost feel that adrenaline rush get going again. I missed it, actually. My longing almost made me want to go out and enter a gymnastics competition right then and there, just to be able to FEEL it again, whether or not my leg could handle those flips.

Once I got home from school at the end of the day, I told Irodia about this weird mood I was in, and even she couldn't explain it. She was at a loss for words. She did manage to come up with a possible reason, though she and I both knew it was a bullshit excuse, if anything.

"Perhaps it's because your first tai chi lesson is scheduled for today," Irodia suggested.

"That's today?" I gasped. I'd forgotten all about it.

"Yes, at four-thirty. How's your stomach feeling?"

"It's feeling ok. The wounds are almost healed up."

"Are they still tender?"

"Still tender?" I repeated dryly. "Of course they are. I still can't do a backwards aerial flip without them hurting."

"You tried those again? Yumeko, you really shouldn't, not until it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Well, they're not opening up, right? So what's the big deal?"

Irodia sighed. "Has anyone ever called you a masochist?"

I grinned. "Not yet. But maybe I am one."

She nodded wearily in agreement. "I'd say you are." She lowered her voice and added, "That must be one of the requirements to be a Knight Saber."

I laughed out loud. "Nene would never have made the cut then!"

She shook her head and sighed, a weak smile on her face. "I'll never understand why she joined them to begin with."

"To be honest, I haven't asked. But I guess she has her reasons."

"And so did you, when you joined."

I slowly nodded. "Yeah..."

Irodia motioned towards the hallway and said, "You better get changed into some exercise clothes. We should be leaving soon to go to your lesson."

"Yeah, sounds good to me. You gonna be doing these lessons too?"

"No way," she said, shaking her head with a goofy grin, the same one that Nene had. "I signed YOU up, not me!"

"Oh, fine, be that way," I joked as I strided to my bedroom to get changed.

-----

"Hi there. I'm Kenneth Donnelson," the man said, holding out his hand to me. I looked down at it for a moment, then grasped it in my hand and shook it firmly. "You must be Rocío Monterrey, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me," I replied.

"Mrs. Brunstein here said you're interested in tai chi so that you can get in shape and help recover from some injuries you've received lately. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how much tai chi will help you, physically and spiritually."

"Oh really?" I asked, not too excited. "Isn't tai chi a sort of martial art?"

"It is," he said as he led me to an empty mat, "but that's not all it is. Tai chi chuan is used to bring harmony to the mind, body, and soul through a series of graceful movements. And you're right, it can be used as an effective martial arts form. In fact, it is one of the most effective methods of self-defense, because it doesn't rely on strength or speed to get the job done, so to speak."

"It doesn't?" _But I need speed to be able to dodge Boomer's attacks,_ I thought dryly. _Isn't strength important too?_

"It certainly does not."

"So when do we get started?"

Kenneth laughed. "Now wait a sec! To fully understand how to use tai chi, you need to understand the deeper meaning of it. Do you know about yin and yang?"

"A little. Isn't that light and dark?"

"Not necessarily. Yin and yang exist only in relation to each other. They flow continuously, without end, much like how day turns into night, and night turns into day. And in self-defense, this flow is extremely important, because if two yang forces collide, for example, only struggle will result, and you will end up defeating yourself. Think of yang as the offense. When you're confronted with it, you need to react using yin, or the defense, so you can absorb the attack. And then, when your enemy has used up his strength, then you can use your yang and respond."

"Sounds good to me," I said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

"Heh, you look like you're ready to tackle this head-on," he remarked, grinning. "But I need to explain a little more about tai chi chuan, all right? So just listen. The main purpose of tai chi is to cultivate your chi, or inner strength, if you will. The movements associated with tai chi help the flow of the chi along, so that your body and soul are at peace, and it also tones your muscles as well. And if the flow of chi is interrupted in any way, you become ill, and the only way to heal yourself is to get the flow going again."

"So basically it could help keep me from getting sick?" I asked, skeptical.

"Yes. Tai chi has been shown to improve many cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, because of the lack of tension and speed, and because of the deep breathing that is required of tai chi."

"Can it help my leg?" I pointed to my leg sleeve.

"Mrs. Brunstein mentioned you were shot there a while back. Yes, tai chi can certainly help strengthen up your leg, because the quads, as a matter of fact, are the muscles that get some of the most exercise."

"Great! So, about this chi thing..."

"What of it?"

"You said I can heal myself if I get that flow going, right?"

"I do believe I said that, yes," he joked. "Even after just this one session, you may notice some slight differences."

"Like what?"

"Well, you'll find that your mind and body are slightly more relaxed, which will enable you to better fight the everyday stresses of life."

"Like school?" I laughed.

Kenneth returned the laugh. "Yes, like school! Also, it will improve your balance and posture. And for a gymnast like you, that is certainly important."

"Irodia told you that too?"

"She did. She really seems eager to do whatever she can for you."

_Irodia really IS a lot like Nene,_ I thought. _She's going out of her way to make sure I get better, even though I didn't ask her to. And this Kenneth guy...I guess she knew what she was doing when she asked him to help me with this! This just might help!_

"So," he said suddenly, "are you ready to learn something today?"

"I think I just did," I joked. "I never knew that much about yin and yang before."

"Well, now you do. It's important to remember their balance. They are infinite, therefore you will never achieve the ultimate. Yin and yang share elements of each other, and so as the extremes are approached, the desire to return to 'normalcy' becomes greater, which creates the natural flowing oscillation of the form."

"So...I'll never be the best at anything?"

"Right," he said, chuckling at my expression. "Think of it logically. If you become the best at something, there will be nothing left to strive for. There's no point in continuing. In tai chi chuan, however, you cannot be the best simply because of the continuous flow of yin and yang. One is not stronger than the other."

"They kinda cancel each other out?"

"Something like that. Now, today I'm just going to start out with a basic footwork drill. You need to learn the footwork drills before getting to the hand motions."

"Makes sense," I concurred.

He pointed down at the mat, and pointed at the black line. "See this?" he asked.

"Yeah, kinda hard not to," I joked.

"Stand at that end of the line," he said, gesturing behind me. After I took a few steps back to the end of the line, he stopped me and positioned me so that I had one foot on each side of the line.

"This is called the step-and-slide," Kenneth explained. "It's a drill that boxers use a lot. They turn their feet inwards so the groin area is closed off, so it is protected."

"What fun is that?" I teased, laughing.

"You being a girl, I suppose you wouldn't have to worry, but I imagine taking a hit there would still hurt," he said, not able to resist letting a grin spread across his face. "Anyway, forget what I said earlier about boxers using this a lot. If you know the rules of boxing, they forbid any hitting below the belt, so they don't really need this move, but it's still fairly useful. Now, pigeon-toe your feet for me."

"Pigeon-toe them?"

"Turn them inwards," he said, clarifying what he meant. I did so, then he said, "Alright, first, slide your left foot forward."

"Like this?" I said, sliding it forward slowly, my leg tensing up.

"Yes, just like that. Now, bring your right foot up so that it's behind the left one, but still on the other side of the line." After I did that, he said, "Ok, now repeat it. Slide your left foot forward, then step up with your right."

"My leg's not liking this already," I said, smiling shyly as it didn't loosen up any.

"This'll be good for it," Kenneth assured me, staying by my side. "Ok, now slide your RIGHT foot forward, and bring your left foot up, then repeat that motion."

"So, basically switch sides?"

"Exactly."

I did just that, and slid forward with my right foot, bringing up my left foot, my arms up in a defensive stance, which just seemed the natural thing to do. Kenneth laughed when I did that.

"I should point out that we won't be sparring today," he teased, smirking.

"I feel like an idiot just moving my legs while my arms are hanging limp, that's all," I protested. "I don't like leaving myself open."

"I guess you've been in a few fights, then?"

"At my old school, I got into some major fights, so yeah."

"Excuse me if I'm prying, but did you hurt your leg in one of those fights?"

I sighed and grumbled, still keeping my stance. "No. I didn't hurt it at school." I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and inquired, "As much as I'd LOVE to stay in this position, I'm starting to get sore. So what do I do now?"

Kenneth cleared his throat. "Now glide back with your left foot, but keep your right one in front of you like it is now. And don't forget to keep your feet pigeon-toed."

I nodded and did as he said. "I kinda feel like I'm dancing," I chuckled.

"Sometimes it does start to feel like that," he agreed. "Ok, now do that again, then slide your right foot back so you're back in the original position."

I started to look down at my legs to make sure they were in the right position, but Kenneth quickly said not to. "Don't look at your feet. You'll be leaving yourself vulnerable to attack. Pretend your enemy is at the other end of the line. I doubt the position of your feet will be at the top of your worry list while you're getting beat up," he joked.

I sighed as my eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Right, right."

I looked up again, picturing a Boomer at the end of the line, and slid my feet back like he'd told me to do. "Ok, now slide your right foot back again, and keep your left foot in front, like before." I did so, then when I got back to the beginning of the line, he clapped for me. "Ok, that was good. I can tell you've had some training before."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" He nodded, a small grin creeping across his lips. "Have you had any?"

"Yeah. The girl that trained me for my gymnastics stuff, she's also the one that helped me during my rehab. We did some sparring and running and all of that."

"How long ago did you injure your leg, if it's ok for me to ask?"

"Six months ago. I got rid of my brace two months ago."

"Wow, that's pretty impressive. Bet you were happy to shed that thing."

"Like hell I was!" I agreed, nodding vigorously. "No way was I gonna live with that thing on my leg for the rest of my life!"

"I can imagine. Now, how about you repeat the step-and-slide foot drill for me again, this time a little faster."

I got back into position, and made my way forward again, switching sides halfway through, and then dancing my way back again. The first time, it had seemed like I was dancing, but now it REALLY felt like it! Kenneth had said this was a position boxers used, albeit not often, and I could recall in the few boxing matches I'd seen that it looked like they were dancing at times. _This must be the foot drill they used at those times,_ I thought.

"If you're bored going in a straight line back and forth, it's ok to zigzag the steps if you want," he reminded me.

"A straight line all the time would be a little predictable," I concurred.

"See? You HAVE had some training!" he laughed, crossing his arms over his chest.

_Sure, I've had a bit of training! That is, if you consider Boomers to be the ultimate teachers,_ I thought dryly. _If I've learned anything from all those battles, it's that you should NEVER fight in a predictable fashion!_ I could remember my very first battle as a Knight Saber... For pretty much the whole battle, I'd just stood there in shock while I watched Linna and Mom fight the Boomer, and only at the end did I attack. If neither of them had been there, I was sure I would have been toast. Looking back on it, now I knew that was one of the stupidest things to do in a battle, to just stand there and do nothing. Even Nene knew that much, although I could relate if the only reaction she had was to freeze in shock. I'd done that myself, several times...

"Do you want to learn one more foot drill before we wrap up?" Kenneth suddenly asked.

"Huh? Oh, sure, I can take it!"

He smirked. "The moment I saw you walk in the door, Rocío, I knew you'd be a great student, one willing to learn no matter what it takes. Am I right?"

"You'd be right," I agreed, returning the smirk.

"Ok, stand in the middle of the line, with both feet on the line," he instructed, pointing to the line. I did so, and then he said, "This drill is called Walk the Line..."

-----

"Daaamn, my legs hurt!" I laughed as I climbed out of the car when Irodia and I got back to the house. When Kenneth said the quad muscles were the ones that got some of the most working out, he wasn't kidding! They were so stiff and sore, I couldn't take a step without pain. Oh well...if it hurt, it was a sign that it was working, right?

"Do you want me to schedule more appointments with him?" Irodia asked, opening the front door for me.

"That'd be great! I should tell Linna about all of this! She'd be so jealous!"

"She doesn't know tai chi?" I shook my head.

"She's more into yoga and karate."

"Well, you don't have to wait too long to tell her about all of it."

"What do you mean?" I inquired as she started to get a mischievous grin on her face.

Irodia led me to the kitchen, and picked up a package that was sitting on the counter. "This came today," she said.

"It's addressed to you though," I said, pointing.

"Yes," she said, "but only because Nene thought it would be risky to continuously be sending to a girl who came into existence out of nowhere. I'm her cousin, so I suppose it'd be safer to address it to me."

My jaw dropped as I examined the handwriting on the package more closely. Sure enough, the return address was a Nene Romanova in MegaTokyo. "Damn her!" I yelled, starting to laugh. "She's one clever little..."

"Yes, I know," she concurred, that cat-that-ate-the-canary look still pasted on her face. "After dinner, you can feel free to view the vidletters."

"Why not now?" I was practically jumping up and down, I was so excited about receiving letters from back home.

"Because Tyler is arriving home now with dinner," she teased, nodding towards the front door. I took a peek into the living room, and once the door opened, there was Tyler, with bags of food cradled under both arms.

"Hope you're all hungry," he said, grinning as Mikhaila came in behind him, carrying a few more bags.

"What did you get?" I asked, stepping into the room.

"I went and got some Italian food. That ok?"

I grinned and nodded. "Yeah! Fine by me!"

"I don't like Italian..." I heard Mikhaila mumble under her breath as we went into the dining room and took the containers of food out of the bags. "It makes me gain weight."

"If anything, you NEED to gain weight," I quipped as I sat down. "You look like you're anorexic or something."

"Oh, what about you, Miss Hotshot Gymnast?" she spat. "You're even skinnier than I am."

"Probably because I work out," I quipped. "That might have something to do with it. Muscle doesn't take up as much room as fat does."

"What are you implying?" Mikhaila got in my face and yelled, "Are you calling me fat?"

"No. Just out of shape."

The pissed-off redhead furiously took a swing at me, which I casually blocked with my arm. "You're one to talk!" she spat angrily. "Who's the one going to tai chi lessons to get in shape, huh?"

"And who's the one that needs to stop spitting in other people's faces?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow as I lowered my arm. "My God, even the kids back home weren't an ornery as you. And trust me, they were pretty ornery. Is the hair that got stuck up your ass starting to fester or something?"

"Shut up!"

I smirked. "Seriously, Mikhaila, if you're so worried about grabbing yourself a guy, you can't have such a bitchy attitude. I don't know guys too well, but I'm sure they get turned off by that."

Mikhaila stood back and took a breath, still frowning at me. "Don't know guys too well? Ha. So what, are you more attracted to girls than to guys?"

"Just because I'd rather stay single than have a ball-and-chain doesn't mean that I'm intimate with girls."

"Can this wait?" Tyler cut in, sitting down. "We need to have dinner now. So stop bickering, you two."

Mikhaila snorted and sat down, Irodia following suit. After Tyler said grace, we all picked away at our dinner, Mikhaila giving me evil glances throughout. I just shrugged it off and thought about the package that Nene had sent. God, I just wanted to jump up, grab it, and lock myself in my room so I could view the vidletters. Irodia noticed my excitement, and just shook her head, a wistful smile on her face. I sighed and shoved some spaghetti in my mouth, hoping I could be excused soon.

Once dinner was over, I jumped up and was about to run to the kitchen to grab the package when I felt Irodia's hand on my shoulder. "Could you help me with the dishes, Rocío?" she asked in a kind voice.

"I...I could," I said reluctantly. "But—"

"Don't worry, the package isn't going anywhere. It'll still be there when you're done. Now help me gather up the dirty dishes."

"Ok," I groaned, shuffling back to the dining room to gather them up.

Once Irodia and me had them gathered up, we carried them to the kitchen, set them in the sink, and proceeded to scrub off all of the food stuck to them and put them in the dishwasher. I tried to hurry through it, scrubbing them quickly, but on practically every other dish, Irodia handed one back to me, pointing out a chunk of food I had missed. I just sighed, scrubbed it off, then put it back in the dishwasher.

What seemed like hours was probably only minutes, but after the dishwasher was loaded and running, I dried off my hands and practically made a mad dash towards the package on the counter. "No, Rocío," Irodia said. "You need to do your homework."

"You're doing this on purpose!" I protested. Irodia just laughed.

"Maybe," she admitted. "But seriously, go do your homework first, then you can see the letters, ok?"

"I haven't seen them in almost three weeks. Please let me see those letters!"

She put her hands on my shoulder and shushed me gently. "I know, I know." She grinned. "But if I give them to you now, you'll never get any homework done."

"To hell with the homework!"

"The letters can wait. Homework can't."

"Damn it, I really..."

"I know." She ushered me to my room. "Homework first, though."

"Fine, fine," I sighed, giving in. "But if I do it, will you give me the letters right afterwards?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding.

"This is blackmail!" I remarked as I headed into my room, shutting the door behind me to the noise of Irodia's laughter.

-----

The clock read 6:47 PM when I went into my room to start my homework, and I tried hard not to stare at it as I worked on my homework, instead concentrating on getting it done as soon as humanly possible so I could see the letters from Mom and the others. But by the time I had it all done, the clock read 9:14.

"God damn it!" I cursed when I saw the time, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "Damn homework!"

"Are you done?" I heard Irodia call out gleefully.

"Yeah, finally," I groaned, stretching my arms out.

"Let me see," she said as she came into the room. I handed it to her, and after a minute of glancing over it, she smiled and handed it back to me. "Good job."

"Can I have the letters now?" I begged.

She just smiled and handed me the package, then placed a few vidletters in my other hand. "Those ones are blank," she said. "I'm sure you have plenty to say to them, so I'll let you stay up as long as you need, all right?"

"Thanks, Irodia," I said, smiling. "Good night."

"Good night," she replied as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

I turned on the lamp on the desk, then walked over and turned off the lights. Walking back to the desk, I sat down and tore open the package. Six vidletters came spilling out, one of them apparently from Nene to Irodia. I set that one aside, making a mental note to give it to her in the morning, then gazed at the remaining five. Each of them had the name of who it was from on it, and the date. I picked up the one that said "To Yumeko Asagiri, from Sylia Stingray" on it, and inserted it into the vidletter player, pressing 'play'.

After a few seconds of static, Sylia appeared on the little screen. "Hello, Yumeko," she greeted, smiling. "I hope you are enjoying your life in Sacramento. As you've probably guessed, everyone here misses you, but I'm not going to speak for them. You can hear their say on the letters they recorded themselves. Mackie misses you, as does Dr. Raven. And I will admit that I miss seeing you around as well. Having a young face around has been refreshing, to put it plainly. And it was a pleasure having you as a member of the Knight Sabers. You have helped us out a great deal, and I thank you. You have made me proud, and I'm sure you know Priss is proud of you, too."

_Wow...she's glad I was a member of the Knight Sabers?_ I thought, touched. Hearing this from a woman whom I had considered to be the Ice Queen was certainly a shock, to say the least.

"Yumeko, I know that losing Michiko was certainly a blow to you, but you have shown everyone that you can persevere and overcome this. The pain will always be there, yes, but so will your memories. Don't lose those. And I know sometimes, you were wondering why you joined the Knight Sabers, why I invited you to join us. After all, you were just sixteen when I asked you to help us in our cause. I'm sure it was a shock to learn your mother and her closest friends are the infamous vigilantes."

She cleared her throat, then continued. "I asked you to join, Yumeko, because I believed in you. Although you were a bit naïve at the time, I knew that you had what it takes to be a Knight Saber. You had the strength, the courage, and perhaps even the, ahem, foolhardiness to take on a conglomerate such as Genom. You really take after your mother, in more ways than one. And I am proud of you."

"Sylia..." I whispered out loud.

She smiled. "I know you want to view the others' vidletters, so I will keep this short. Make sure you rest, and try not to worry about any happenings over here in MegaTokyo. The Knight Sabers have been around for over two decades. We are resilient...and so are you."

With that, the screen went blank, and I was left speechless. I had never seen Sylia so expressive in my life. I was almost wondering who this person was that had just spoken to me! She looked like Sylia, but she didn't really talk like her! Who was this?

I removed the letter from the player, then inserted a blank one, adjusted the lens so it was focusing on my face, then pressed 'record'.

"Hi, Sylia," I said, trying to put some cheer in my voice. "I just got done viewing your vidletter, and I gotta admit that it's really nice to hear your voice again. I've been here almost three weeks now, and I'm still trying to get used to this new lifestyle. Everything here is so different, and I don't mean the fact that they drive on the right side of the road instead of the left like they do in Tokyo, either. I mean, there's no rampaging Boomers here, cybernetic implants are a lot more commonplace here, and...and nobody here really gives a damn about the Knight Sabers. I feel like a fish out of water.

"Anyway, I'm staying with Nene's cousin and her family. Her name is Irodia, her husband is Tyler, and their bratty daughter is Mikhaila. It's weird, having a guy to share a roof with, but it's also weird having a pseudo sister. Mikhaila is...she's a total bitch, to be blunt. All she cares about is how she looks, and she's done nothing but ridicule me about everything. I try not to let her get under my skin, but after everything that's happened, I just don't know if I can put up with her crap. I wish I could tell her what's really happened, but she probably wouldn't believe me anyway. Oh well, I can't help it if she's that dense.

"Another thing that's different here is the school schedule. Instead of having the school year go from April to March, it goes from August to May. So, in other words, I have to start my senior year all over again!" I slapped my hands over my face. "It sucks! I'm doing ok in school, 'cause I'm fluent in English and all, but it's just one more thing that makes me miss home. I really wanna come back to Tokyo, and I know I'm here in California for a reason, but..." I took my hands away from my face and sighed. "But...I still wanna help you guys out. That's not gonna change, no matter how long I'm here for."

I absently ran a hand through my hair and leaned back in my chair. "Well, I suppose I should keep this short and sweet, so I'll just end it here. I really miss you, Sylia. I miss going out and killing Boomers with you. Oh, and tell Mackie and Dr. Raven I miss them too. Bye for now."

I pressed 'stop' on the player, then took out the letter and wrote on it, "To Sylia, from Yumeko." After putting it aside, I picked up another letter at random. This one was from Linna. I inserted it into the player and pressed 'play', and after a moment, the black-haired girl appeared on the screen.

"Hi, Yumeko!" she said in a cheery voice. "I hope everything's going well for you on the other side of the Pacific. A few people at the gym have asked where you are, because they've been so used to seeing you there over the past couple months, but all I told 'em was that you're out of town. Anyway, things have pretty much stayed calm over here, in terms of Boomer rampages, anyway. And no, I don't have a new boyfriend." She laughed. "Anyway, I hope you're doing alright over there, and I hope you're resting up instead of trying to push yourself like you tend to do a lot. Which reminds me...you want to go to the Olympics next year, right? And I know you know that the sooner you start on your training, the better. But of course, there's your wounds that have to be dealt with."

_What's she getting at?_ I thought.

"Yumeko, I want you to let your wounds heal before you start on ANY rough stuff. I know I've told you this before, but if you try to push yourself too early, it'll only take longer for you to recover from your wounds, and then you'll have to put off the real training even more. So please, try to rest, ok? I know you're excited, but if you rest, you'll be able to start on the good stuff all the sooner."

She smiled and ran a hand through her hair to get it out of her eyes. "Priss has told me that you really want to help us out, and that you were saying that a lot on the way to the airport. I understand that completely. I've known you your whole life, so I'm gonna take a guess right now, and guess that you're wondering how on earth we'll be able to survive without you. Well, I can answer that. First off..." She held up one finger. "The Knight Sabers have been doing this for years before you were even born. We started out in 2031, ok? We weren't much older than you are now. But we've gained a lot of experience since then. You've only been in the Boomer-killing business for a year, whereas we 'veterans' have a couple decades of experience behind us. I'm sure we can handle ourselves ok, even though we're in our forties," she said, grinning impishly.

"And you're gonna be turning forty-three next month, Aunt Linna," I said aloud, snickering.

"I'm going to end this letter here if that's ok. Oh, and when you're ready for the Olympics, Yumeko, you can bet I'll be there to support you. And so will Priss, and Sylia and Nene too, of course." She winked. "Try to have some fun over there, ok? You're seventeen! Go out and make friends, and don't forget to tell us all about what's going on over there! Bye!"

I ejected the vidletter from the player, then inserted another blank one into it and pressed 'record'. I repeated what I had said to Sylia about Irodia and her family, then went on to discuss the things Linna had wanted me to tell her about.

"One of the girls in Mikhaila's little group is a girl with a cybernetic tail. Her name is Xania Peters. So far, she's been the only girl I really hang out with. The other kids at school, including Mikhaila, have been pretty surprised with how nice she is with me. She offers to help me with my homework, which Mikhaila claims she usually doesn't do. Oh, and she's been said to sleep around too," I added with a goofy grin. "But as far as I've seen, she's stuck with just one guy, so maybe the stories I've heard are exaggerated."

I let out a breath and thought for a moment. "You said to let myself heal up before trying anything, right? Well, I'm happy to say that, for the most part, I've managed to rest up. The stab wounds don't hurt nearly as much as they did when I got here, so I think they're almost healed up. Oh, and Irodia took me to see this guy at the local gym today! He's gonna start teaching me some tai chi! In fact, he showed me some footwork drills for it this afternoon. Irodia only set this one appointment, but I asked her if she could schedule me to do some more exercises with him. And I can almost hear you asking if I have a crush on him." I rolled my eyes. "The answer is no. He's about thirty years old, way too old for me. I don't have time for a relationship, anyway. I'm trying to focus on training for the Olympics, if only to get my mind off of everything else..."

I sighed and started to twirl Michiko's necklace around my finger. "I miss you, Aunt Linna. I miss everybody. And I especially miss Michiko, but I guess that's a given, huh? Before I saw your letter, I watched Sylia's, and she was saying that that pain will never go away, but neither will the memories. I think there's more truth in those words than she'll ever know. Michiko was...my best friend in the world..." I wiped a tear from my eye. "And I know you said that you and the other Sabers can handle this on your own, but¼that doesn't stop me from worrying anyway. You've been like family to me, and I don't want to lose any of you...

"Well, I'm gonna go now, so in case you're viewing this in the middle of the night, you won't have to stay up all night listening to my mindless ramblings," I chuckled, my voice cracking. "Take care of everybody for me. Bye."

I stopped recording, and took out the vidletter and wrote "To Linna, from Yumeko" on it, then set it aside with the one I'd recorded for Sylia. I took one from the pile of letters I had yet to view, and gasped when I saw that the one I'd picked up said "To Yumeko, from Adrienne and Kenji Ishiodori."

"T...this is from Michiko's parents!" I gasped. I had a feeling that Mom had something to do with this... I quickly popped it into the player and pressed 'play', wondering what on earth they would want to say to me.

"Hello, Yumeko," Mrs. Ishiodori said when she appeared on the screen. "Priss recently told me that you're off somewhere to try to recover from everything that's gone on. She didn't tell me where exactly you are, so if you're viewing this, then I guess she really does want you to hear from us." She sighed and cleared her throat. "I've known you for ten years now, ever since you helped out Michiko when we first moved to Tokyo. I don't remember if I ever thanked you for helping her out in those early days, helping her not feel like such an outcast. But if I didn't, well, I'm thanking you now."

She wiped away the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes with trembling hands. "I want to thank you for being Michiko's friend, and for being like a daughter to me. I really appreciate what you've done. And I'm sure that Michiko appreciated having you there as well. And...and don't feel bad about her dying, all right? I'm sure you're hurting for her as much as Kenji and I are, but...but just try to keep in mind that she's in a better place, and that no one can hurt her anymore."

_I try...I try... _I thought, resisting the urge to break down myself.

"I know that if you could've done anything to help her, Yumeko, you would have. But none of us could've known what happened to her..." Her body started to tremble with the effort not to break down and cry. "Michiko wouldn't...want you to cry for her. I'm sure she wouldn't want me to, either. But how can you NOT cry for someone you loved so much...?"

"No kidding," I agreed, wiping away my own tears.

"Well, here comes Kenji. I'll let him say something now," she said, standing up. After she left, Mr. Ishiodori sat down and gazed at the camera. I'd never seen him look so tired and worn-out before. Whenever I'd seen him, he usually had a big grin on his face, but now...he looked like a completely different person.

"Yumeko...I've known you for ten years, like Adrienne said. I know you're a very strong person. You've proven that much just by learning to walk again after what you've been through. Right now...I hate to admit it, but I'm not feeling very strong right now. I'm a total wreck. So I want to ask a favor of you. I want you...to be strong. I want you to be strong for me, for Adrienne, and for Michiko too. I'm sure you know how Michiko hated to see anyone cry, and even though she's gone, she still wouldn't want to see us crying. So please, Yumeko, I'm asking you to be strong for everyone, because honestly, I don't know if I can be strong right now. I'm trying to hang in there, for my sake as well as Adrienne's, but we just lost our only child."

_And I lost my best friend. What is it with everyone these days? They expect us to just carry on like nothing happened, but what about our mourning period? Aren't we allowed to mourn anymore?_ I thought. I knew I'd probably be mourning for the rest of my life, so for someone to ask me to carry on normally was a bit too much to ask.

"I think I've said all that needs to be said, so I'm going to go here," he said, sighing. "I'm sorry if I've been a pain in the ass asking you to do this, Yumeko, but I'm sure Michiko would ask you to be strong too. And she'd want us, as her parents, to be strong too, and we're trying the best we can. All I'm doing right now is passing along that message. So please, try to carry on with everyday life, wherever you are, because I know Michiko wouldn't want you to...to put your life on hold to mourn her loss. You don't have to reply to this letter if you don't want to, but...I'd like a reply, and Adrienne would too, since you were our daughter's best friend in the whole world. Goodbye."

"God, I hate that word," I moaned to myself as I ejected the letter and set it with the ones Sylia and Linna had sent me, wiping the tears from my eyes. As I picked up a blank vidletter to put in the player, I hesitated. I just stared at it, wondering whether I should reply or not. There wasn't really much that I had to say to them; they seemed to know how I felt. But they WERE Michiko's parents, after all; I almost felt obligated to answer their letter. So, I put the letter in the player and pressed 'record', hoping I could come up with something decent and not have a breakdown at the same time.

"Um...hi," I said, that being the only greeting I could come up with at the moment. "You said that Mom didn't tell you where I am. Well, if you're looking for the answer from me, you're not gonna get it. I think for your sakes as well as mine, I shouldn't tell you." I sighed. "It's best that way. Anyway, I AM away somewhere, but...it's not any easier to deal with what's happened. Michiko's still dead, I still walk with a limp, and nothing is going to change that. Ok, I just said that, but I still can't accept it. I just can't imagine Michiko not being here anymore. She didn't...deserve to die. Not like that..."

My body started to shake, and I buried my face in my hands, trying not to cry. That memory playback that Boh had showed me, showing just how Michiko died, came to rear its ugly head in my mind again. Michiko...she didn't deserve something so horrible. She should've been one of those people who died an old woman, in her bed, surrounded by her friends and loved ones. She should not have had to meet death by having that damned bastard Boh stab her five times!

"I'm sorry..." I cried, looking up at the vidletter player's camera lens. "I should've been able to do more to help her. I should've given her a ride home like I always did. But that day, she wanted to walk home, so I let her. And now look!" I wiped the hot tears from my eyes, more springing up in their place. "I can't help but feel I should've been able to do more for her. I was stabbed too, like her. Four times. I wish I'd been the one to die instead of her. Micchan was too good for that sort of death. I know we're all gonna die, but I don't think anyone deserves to die so violently!"

I took a breath and leaned back in the chair, once again fighting the urge to cry. "You said that I should try to be strong, for all of us. I...I've been having just as hard a time dealing with this as you have, but...I'll try. You're right about saying that Michiko would hate to see any of us crying because she's not here anymore. But...you were also right when you said that we can't help but cry, because we all loved her so much." I smiled through my tears. "Damn, why do emotions have to be such confusing little trifling things? They just mess everything up even more than it already is... But I'm gonna try and be strong. I'm gonna try to live life for both Michiko as well as myself. That's what she'd want, right?" I perked up, getting a grin on my face. "She'd want me to go to the Olympics just the same, and that's what I plan on doing! So next August, watch for me on Team Japan, because Michiko is gonna be out there helping me win that gold medal!"

I stopped recording and ejected the letter, writing on it "To Mr. and Mrs. Ishiodori, from Yumeko." I set it aside, then sighed to myself, "I must be going nuts...or at least becoming bipolar. What the hell was I just saying?"

"Rocío!" I heard Mikhaila yell from her room. "You talkin' to yourself in there or what?"

"Yeah, to the voices in my head!" I quipped.

"I can't understand a word you're saying! What part of Mexico DID you come from, anyway? Doesn't sound like any Spanish I've ever heard!"

"Try listening to the actual Spanish version of Spanish instead of the Mexican version. You'll never know it's the same language!" This was surprising to know, that Mikhaila didn't know Japanese. I had figured that Irodia would have taught it to her, but apparently she hadn't. Either that, or Mikhaila didn't see the point to learning it.

Mikhaila didn't respond, which made me smirk. She still didn't like to be proven wrong, but what else was new?

I picked up another vidletter from the two that were left that I hadn't viewed yet. The one I picked up said, "To Yumeko, from Aunt Nene." I smiled and chuckled to myself; she loved acting so cute. I inserted the letter into the player and pressed 'play', and then a grinning Nene popped up on the screen.

"Yumeko!" she exclaimed. "Hope you're doing well over in Sacramento! Irodia's said lots of good things about you. I hope she and her family have treated you well." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "She also mentioned you've been pretty depressed over Michiko. But that's normal. Let yourself mourn for her for however long you need to. And don't hold it all inside like Priss does, ok? Let those emotions out, and don't be embarrassed if you need to cry. Crying is a normal human response to grief and sadness."

_What did she do, take a psychology class?_ I thought sarcastically. _I'll deal with my emotions however I damn well please!_

"Priss really misses you," she added. "But since you're getting a letter from her too, I'll try not to talk about that and let her speak for herself. Anyway, I'm curious as to how you're doing over there! Have you made any friends? What's the school you're attending like? Y'know, basic stuff! Oh, speaking about school...I know the school system over there is really different, but I'm sure you'll overcome it! This IS your last year of high school, so I know you'll be prone to ditching and senioritis, as if you weren't already." She laughed. "But try to buckle down and study, ok? Education's important, although I know getting back into gymnastics is important to you too. If you ever need help with homework or anything, you can ask Irodia, or if you don't feel like she can help you, then you can ask me too! I'm always willing to lend a helping hand!"

"Except in battle," I quipped, snickering.

Nene thought for a moment. "Oh, has Irodia told you about the annual Christmas gathering that her husband's family has? Every year for Christmas, his whole family gathers in Minnesota and celebrates together! Irodia's always asked me to go with her, but I've been so busy here that I haven't been able to. Besides, it's Tyler's family, not ours." She shrugged, then smiled. "Oh well, maybe I'll try to make it this year, if only to see you again."

I gasped. This was certainly news to me! Irodia had never mentioned such a thing! My heart started to pound. Three months I'd have to wait to see her, but...it would be worth it! And it was a safe way to come and see me; no worrying about Genom tracing any phone calls or anything!

Nene sighed. "Yesterday, Sylia told me that she's possibly thought of a way to get Genom off your back, but...she doesn't know if it'll bear any fruit. I don't want to get your hopes up, so I won't go into any more detail on it. I don't want you worrying about it, anyway. Just try to live the normal life that you were supposed to have, ok? Hopefully I'll see you in December!" She smiled and waved. "Later now!"

"Damn it, Nene," I mumbled. "You said that same thing before you left to go help the others at the summit..." With every letter, I was dreading that word – goodbye – and its other forms more and more. Couldn't anybody think of a different word to say? Even "See ya later!" would've been better than that God-forsaken word!

"Nene..." I groaned when I started to record the vidletter for her, "you really shouldn't leave me hanging like that. I wanna know what the hell your idea is for getting Genom off my ass!" I added dryly, "As much as I just LOVE staying here with total strangers, I really don't plan on living like this for the rest of my life! How can I live a normal life when I know why I'm here to begin with! I can sure as hell TRY to, but you know as well as I do that it'll just be a charade. I can't really LIVE if I'm stuck here, not free to go home to Tokyo whenever I want to, which is what I want to do right now! I...I know you have good intentions, I do, but...I want to help you guys out. To hell with whether I live or die. I don't want you guys giving your lives for me. And yet...I know that's just what you'll do if that's the only option to keep me safe."

I sighed and decided to change the subject, instead repeating what I had said to Linna and Sylia about Irodia's family, and Xania. About Xania, I said, "It's kinda funny how I managed to become friends with her, because...she's the total opposite of Michiko. She's bold, she's a pottymouth, she's not naïve whatsoever...but she does have her own charm, just like Michiko did. I've noticed that she'll act one way around her other friends, another way around her boyfriend Greg, and yet another way when she's alone with me. Maybe I'm her first real friend. Maybe...I'm the only person who can relate to what she's been through, even though I don't know exactly what she DID go through." I shrugged. "Or maybe I'm totally bullshitting myself. Whatever it is, maybe we can help each other out. I guess in a few months we'll see whether I'm right or not."

I forced a smile, then waved. "See you later, Aunt Nene. I hope we do get to meet again for Christmas. And try to keep yourself in one piece when you're fighting Boomers!"

I wiped away a tear as I stopped recording and took out the letter, writing "To Aunt Nene, from Yumeko" on it and setting it aside. God, I never realized how much I'd missed her! I figured having someone around that looked and acted much like her – Irodia – would help soothe that agony, but it hadn't done a damn thing. Of course, then again, Irodia and Nene were two separate and unique people. Who was I to expect that they act the exact same?

I reached and picked up the last remaining vidletter that I hadn't viewed. On it was written "To Yume, from Mom." I wiped away another tear as I put it in the player and pressed 'play'. Oh, how I longed to hear her voice again! Hearing it on her CDs was one thing, but to actually hear her talking to me was entirely another.

After a second of static, Mom appeared on the screen, smiling softly. "Yume...aw hell, what am I supposed to say?" she mused aloud. "You already know how I feel about this whole thing. But, I'm gonna let it all out anyway, and it's gonna sound a little corny, but bear with me here."

She took a breath and began. "You're my daughter, Yume. You're seventeen years old, and at your age, I'm sure the last thing you want to be doing is spending your free time going out and killing Boomers. I was seventeen when I joined the Knight Sabers, but then again, I'd had nothing close to a normal life. You, on the other hand, had as close to a normal life as you could get with a famous singer for a mom and all. And then, that damn female Boomer tried to gut you, and you got dragged into the vigilante life me and the others have known for years.

"After you went and nearly got killed at Genom Tower, I thought a lot. I thought about whether I wanted to keep risking your life over a cause that you shouldn't have had to take up to begin with. At seventeen, the last thing you should be worrying about is somebody trying to kill you. So, I talked with Sylia about it, and she agreed. Nene happened to overhear, and said that she could talk with her cousin Irodia about it. Of course, Sylia being Sylia, she wanted to know how trustworthy this cousin of hers could be. After a while, Sylia agreed to let Irodia know about everything, so Nene called her up and spilled the beans to her, and strangely enough, Irodia agreed to take you in. And so, there you are in California, doing God-knows-what."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Yume, I'm sure you miss me like hell. And to be honest, I miss you a lot too. You're my daughter, why wouldn't I miss you? But...I guess sometimes, a mother has to let her daughter go to keep her safe, so that's what I've been doing now." She got a silly smirk on her face and suddenly said, "If you think me talking like this is weird, then you're not alone. I can't believe I'm saying half of this, either."

I snickered. She really did know me!

"On a more serious note, Yume...try not to worry about Genom or anybody, ok? I swear I'll kill Madigan with my bare hands if it means you'll be safe. But somehow, I guess Sylia wouldn't be too thrilled about that idea," she joked, clearing her throat. "Well, uh, what else to say here... I STILL can't believe you went to Genom Tower on your own! I practically had a heart attack when I read your note. But thank God you made it out ok. And...I'm proud of you. You really gave Boh what he deserved. I'm glad you're my daughter, and I'll make sure that one day, we can live together again. Damn, I almost said 'fight Boomers together again'. But I didn't. Wanna know why? Because I don't want you to have to don a hardsuit again. I want you to have a normal life as much as you want one for yourself. And I swear that you'll have it. I dunno when, but I'll try to make it soon. In the meantime, let me do the worrying and the fighting for both of us."

She gave me a weary grin and added, "Genom had enough trouble trying to get rid of the purple Knight Saber. But now, they're gonna have to deal with her mother! How's THAT for an 'uh-oh, we're screwed' moment?"

I laughed out loud. I so wished I could be there for when Mom would show Genom what an Asagiri girl could do! That would've been quite a sight to see!

"I love you, Yume. I want you to take care of yourself, ok? Later."

And with that, the screen went blank.

I sighed and took the letter out of the player, and set it with the others' letters. I took the remaining blank vidletter into my hand and slipped it into the player, pressing 'record'.

I folded my arms over the table and laid my head down on top of them, resting my chin on them. "Mom...I can't possibly say how nice it is to hear your voice outside of a music CD," I sighed, smiling softly. "It's nice to hear you actually talking to me for once. Y'know, I guess I really AM your daughter, 'cause while you were talking, I got some of the words to _Wasurenaide_ stuck in my head. But the words fit, actually..."

I started to sing the verse that had gotten stuck in my head:

_Ano hi futari de (That night, crying,)_

_hoshizora o miagete naita (you and I gazed up at the stars,)_

_kimi o kizutsukeru (and I wanted to protect you)_

_subete kara mamoritai yo. (from everything that hurts you.)_

"Is it silly that songs seem to be the only way to really express how I feel?" I wondered aloud after I was done singing that verse. "Or maybe that's the reason people started writing songs to begin with. You'd agree, right? Whenever you've gotten down, you always retreat into your music to make yourself feel better, and no wonder!"

I ran a hand through my hair to get my bangs out of my eyes and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, music really seems to be the only way to really let emotions out. No wonder you became a singer. That became clear to me just now. I really don't like the mass of sad, emotional songs that are out there, 'cause they're just so damn depressing, but I guess that's the only way those singers can get those emotions out into the open! So...I guess I'll just have to live with it."

I closed my eyes as the tears started to well up in them. "Mom, I really miss you right now. I feel like...like there's no point to living anymore sometimes. Michiko's gone, and how can I live with myself knowing that she died to protect me? I viewed the vidletter that her parents recorded for me, and they wanted me to be strong for everybody, to keep on living, because that's what she'd want me to do. And...I guess they're right. I mean, why would I put myself out of my misery? That would turn the whole reason behind Michiko dying into moot. For her sake, I'm gonna try and keep on living. But...I dunno sometimes. Sometimes, I really feel like shit, and Irodia tries to hold me and comfort me, but...but she's not you! She's not my mom, you are!" I opened my eyes and tried in vain to blink away the tears. "I wish you were here to tell me everything's ok... Even when it's not, I guess it's still nice to hear you saying it."

I sighed and closed my eyes again. "You want me to live a normal life, huh? I think I said this to Nene already, but I can try all I want, but I just can't do it when I know why I'm here in Sacramento to begin with. It'll just be a charade. And I can't pretend to live a normal life when I know you and my 'aunts' are over there trying to protect me. You said not to worry, but...I'm still worrying nonetheless. But I guess you knew I'd do that anyway, huh?"

I wiped away a stray tear which had started to make its way down my cheek. "Mom...I love you more than anybody in the world. I love you more than you'll ever know. And I hope to God that we'll be able to live together again soon, because I hate living the way I am now. I don't plan on living the rest of my life quivering in fear. I want to stand up to those bastards and show them I'm not afraid of them." I smirked. "But...I guess you'll be the one to take care of that now. And I know you will."

I stopped recording the letter, then ejected it from the player. On it, I wrote "To Mom, from your daughter Yume" on it, then set it with the others I had recorded. After securing them with a rubber band, I set them in a drawer, so that Mikhaila wouldn't find them if she happened to come snooping around in my room, wondering what I was doing. I did likewise with the ones that they had recorded for me, at the same time leaving the one Nene recorded for Irodia on my desk.

As I changed into my nightshirt and boxer shorts, I kept thinking about what my Knight Saber friends had said in their letters. _I really hope you guys can do this,_ I thought. _It would help put me at ease, and I'm guessing the same about you, too. In the meantime, I'll try to live like a normal teenager is supposed to, but I'm not making any promises here._

After I was changed, I walked over to the desk, and smiled as I turned off the lamp. Then, I curled up in bed and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about whether I would ever live a life without fear, without going out in a hardsuit...

A life where I could freely walk the streets and have everybody know my name and not be risking my life in the process.

It was something everyone took for granted, being able to walk freely without fear or worry. But me, I would try to embrace these peaceful moments I had in Sacramento, because I would never know when this so-called joyride would come to a screeching halt.


End file.
